A Clockwork Bro
by Hetalia Red
Summary: Prequel to Two Eds and a Bro. While in prison, Eddy's brother reflects on his past that shaped him into the individual that he is today. From meeting his friends Seth and Lucas to befriending a mentally ill Vietnam War veteran, Matthew was shaped into the enigma and monster that his brother and the rest of the neighborhood remember well. Implied BroEdd throughout story.
1. Matthew McGee

A/N: I don't own Bro (Matthew), Eddy, or some of the other characters. They are owned by Danny Antonucci and AKA Cartoon. I do own the original characters of the story though. I don't make any money from writing this story either.

Matthew gazed out the window as the prison bus he rode in past several cornfields. He was found guilty for beating the shit of Sasha and Matthew would be put into a penitentiary with all of the other animals of society. To makes matters worse, he was going to be put in solitary confinement, so he would become a caged animal that is not allowed to roam with other caged animals. Prison was already starting to bite.

In fact, there were other things about being locked up that drove him insane. The first thing that drove him insane was being put on antidepressants by the jail staff and would be put on them by the prison staff. Matthew fumed at logic behind the whole justice system. He was found sane enough to be found guilty of a crime, but found insane enough to be medicated. Antidepressants made him feel numb like he was a zombie of his former self. He couldn't feel as angry at the things that would normally enrage him when he was not medicated. Another bad part about being medicated was that it took longer for Matthew to get off than when he was not on antidepressants. It made him feel impotent, especially considering how many times a week he would jack off before.

It did not help that he could not write to his princess while he was locked up, especially with the prison staff snooping around his mail like hawks. It was not over between him and his princess until he said it was over. Matthew felt disgusted when he imagined the things that his little princess would do with his own brother while he was locked up.

Matthew did as any other prisoner might do in his situation. He dwelled on where his life had reached a pointed where there was no turning back. The more he thought about it, the more he concluded that the turning point of his life was when he first moved to Peach Creek back when he was seven or eight years old.

He was born and grew up in the city. Pretty clichéd, but that was the reality of the situation. His parents moved back to their hometown for two reasons; Matthew's dad, Carl, got a job at a used car lot and Matthew's mom, Margaret, was pregnant, so the family needed a bigger space to live in. His parents were excited to be in their new house and to begin a new life in Peach Creek.

There were only two new houses on the block at the time; their pink house and a green one that was further down the block. There was also an old abandoned house that was a block away from the cul-de-sac, but nobody lived there. The green house was inhabited by a pair of newlyweds who moved in about the same time that they did. Welcome to Peach Creek!

His parents sent him to school when they first unloaded the car to their new house. They did not give him a day to adjust to the new changes. So he was guided into his new assigned classroom by the principal. The old second grade teacher with the thick-rimmed glasses guided Matthew inside the classroom and introduced him to the whole class. Years later, Matthew forgot her name, but it wasn't too important. Matthew was homeschooled before he came to Peach Creek, so he did not know what to expect.

Jeers from his fellow classmates were the last thing he ever expected. "Look at that porker! How many Twinkies has he eaten today? Fifty?" That lovely comment came from none other than Darcy. As Matthew later found out along with Darcy's name, Darcy was the school's golden boy.

"I'm only 90 pounds, sissy boy!" Matthew shouted, curling his hands into fists.

"Oh my gosh! He's from the city? He looks like one of the thugs from that one movie! That is, if, like, the thug had a kid with a bulldog." One of the girls in the classroom sneered. He later found out that the girl was the feminine equivalent to Darcy at their school. She looked like type of girl that had been in plenty of beauty pageants. Matthew later found out that the girl's name was Stacy.

"You wish, toots," Matthew retorted, trying desperately to ignore the other students laughing at him.

"Enough!" The teacher shouted, "Matthew, sit in the back!"

Matthew stomped his way towards the back of the class. He flopped down at his desk. His face was as red as the apple on the teacher's desk. He sulked in his chair as his teacher droned on about the Titanic. It was his first day of school and it already sucked. Matthew noticed that the kids he sat with were the only ones who did not laugh at him when the two blond kids were calling him a fat thug. The kids he sat with in class would later impact him for the rest of his life.

He observed the three kids that he sat next to. They seemed different from the other children, even though they looked somewhat average. To his left sat a kid that wore a medical mask which covered the lower part of his face. The kid wore camouflage pants, an old white t-shirt, and an old army jacket that fit the kid like a bathrobe. The kid's hair was dark brown hair and cut short in a buzz cut. The kid doodled cars, swords, and snakes on his notebook. Even back then, the kid was not a bad artist. The kid later grew up to be the Seth Alexander Lovering that he knew in the present.

To his right sat a cheerful kid that looked like he would be best friends with someone like the blond who called him fat. The kid had light brown hair that was neatly cut. He wore a light blue polo with a crocodile logo and designer jeans, though Matthew did not recognize those clothing items as designer clothing at the time. The kid was making origami birds out of notebook paper. That kid later grew up to be the Lucas Malcolm Holmes he knew in the present.

The kid behind him was just as quiet as the rest of the kids he sat with. The kid had on thick rimmed glasses that were fogged at the bottom. His red hair was parted down the middle and fell down to the middle of his neck. The kid wore a dark green hoodie and black jeans. The redhead was reading a 3rd grade reading level horror chapter book. That kid would grow up to be the one who put Matthew in jail; Sasha Ryan Barr.

Lunchtime was not any better. He tried to sit at several tables, but the people who sat at the tables glared at him like he was a damn parasite. The two blonds that made fun of him earlier were making pig noises from their table at him. Was he really that damn fat? He wanted to pour paint all over the girl's dress and put tacks in the boy's seat. However, there was no use into doing that on his first day of school. Matthew was about to eat his lunch in the corner when he heard someone call out to him. He hesitantly turned to the source of the noise.

The source came from one of the tables where the three kids he sat with earlier were seated. The kid in the mask motioned for him to join them. Matthew walked over to the table hesitantly and stood in front of the table, not sure on what to say to the three. The kids at the school already gave him the cold shoulder, who's to say that these three would act any different towards him?

The kid in the mask undid his mask to eat goulash that was served. Matthew couldn't see what was behind the mask though, because the kid hid his face with his free hand. The kid kept his hand over the lower part of his face and extends the hand he was eating with towards Matthew, "I guess you met the gruesome twosome, Darcy and Stacy. They're the most popular kids at school and make it their job to bully other kids and the school does nothing about it."

"I see that," Matthew replied, still standing. Matthew shook the kid's hand. "What's up with the other kids?"

"They're meanies just like Darcy and Stacy." The kid answered, sourly, "Welcome to the loser table, Matthew was it? I'm Seth. Go ahead and sit with us."

"Hi Seth," Matthew nodded, sitting down, "The loser table? I haven't been here a day and they think I'm a loser?"

Seth nodded, "they think anyone who is different from them is `losers.' It sucks. I know."

"Why do they consider me a loser? Why do they consider any of you a loser?" Matthew demanded angrily, woofing down goulash.

Seth gazed at him thoughtfully, "I'm here, because I wear a mask over my mouth sometimes and they think I have vampire fangs, monster teeth, or cooties. Also, I'm sorry you have to hear it from me, but they don't like you because you're new and you're fat. I heard it when you were in the lunch line."

"They also said that Matthew would eat all of their food," The boy with light brown hair chimed in.

"Thank you, Lucas," Seth replied sarcastically and turned to Lucas, "Don't mind Lucas. From what I seen in the last two years, the guy does not know how to talk with people right. He does it with everyone, so don't feel bad."

"Why does he sit at this table? He looks like he should be best buds with Darcy. Why is the redhead here?" Matthew questioned.

Lucas made puking noises at the comment of him ever being best friends with Darcy. Seth snickered a bit and answered, "Lucas is stupid when it comes to people, has a sickness that can't be cured where he can't eat sugar, and cut open the class hamster in front of everyone. The redhead is Sasha and he's here because he wears glasses and talks about nothing but scary stuff like Bloody Mary."

"Okay," Matthew replied, continuing to eat his goulash. The table fell silent. He set his milk to the side. He knew what milk would do to him and did not want that to spend any time over the toilet puking. He looked around the table to observe the other kids. Lucas was splitting the goulash where he could not consume the whole thing. Seth was purposely avoiding the bag of nuts on his school tray. Sasha seemed to eat everything on his plate just fine.

At the end of lunch period, one of the lunch ladies yelled at them for not finishing their trays. Matthew tried to explain to her that he was lactose intolerant, but the lunch lady ignored him. The lunch lady had them stay after to clean each of the tables. Matthew muttered "old witch" under his breath several times until all the tables were clean. As if the day could not get any worse.

It's funny that Matthew still remembered that day sixteen years later. He remembered watching a boring talk show once where it was discussed about how much of an impact childhood bullying had on a person's emotional state. Matthew did not like to think that it had much of an impact on how he ended up where he was today, but something told him that it had more of an impact than he was aware of. He glanced at the handcuffs on his wrist. He pondered about how much thinking he would do while he was locked up. He did not want to remember the bad stuff, but without the constant desire for sexual release to or alcohol to wash away his memories, he would be doing a lot of it.

A/N: Between this prequel and the sequel, I'm not sure which I'm going to do more updating on. I'm just going to go with the artistic flow and see which one I feel like extending on at particular moments.


	2. Sasha Barr

A week had passed since he had been transported to the prison and instantly put into an isolation cell. The isolation cell had a shatterproof window where he could gaze out to see the forest from a short distance of the prison. The orange and red landscape that he could view from window had turned pitch white. Since he was not allowed to have much in his isolation cell, he settled for looking out the window lost in his own thoughts.

The snow fell to the ground. Everything was covered in a white frozen blanket. In fact, the forest looked like a card he received from his senile old grandfather once for Christmas. Speaking of which, that dreaded holiday was less than a month and he already knew what he was probably getting for Christmas; cards. How much cards depended upon who gotten guilt-tripped the most at his damn trial. At the most, he probably would get one from his mom and Eddy, Seth, Lucas, and his daughters. If they really felt guilt-tripped enough, they might part a bit of money for him to buy snacks and hygiene products from the prison commissary, not that he would be able to purchase anything from there any time soon due to his current predicament.

He cursed Sasha's name. If it wasn't for that damn bastard, he would not be behind bars in the first place. He wished Sasha never exist. In fact, he wished Sasha had never been born. He wished Sasha's mother had gotten an abortion in the first place. He wished that Sasha's father would have pulled out and made Sasha's mother swallow the semen that had created Sasha. Everything bad that happened in his life was all Sasha's fault.

He entertained himself with memories of how Sasha stopped being just another kid at the loser table and became a so-called victim of Matthew's "bullying." It had begun months after his first day at school. He had spent those months pulling pranks and scamming people out of their hard-earned allowances. He pulled numerous pranks during that time and was only caught twice; once when he TP-ed the principal's office and once when he throw a paper airplane at the teacher's head. Perhaps his favorite out of all of the pranks he pulled was when he filled Stacy's and Darcy's desk with garter snakes that he found outside of the school. To his amusement, both of them screamed and cried fat tears as the harmless snakes slithered around and hissed warnings at the screaming duo. Several other members of their little clique also reacted the same way to the snakes while the teacher quickly phoned the janitor to help her with the class's snake problem.

While the pranks were starting to become grand, the scams he set up were lackluster. Students walked by his early scams and did not even bother to check them out. He did have a few "pigeons" so to speak, but they were few and far between. He managed to scam a couple of students and the entire losers club. The losers club was not too happy about that, but Lucas and Seth could not stay pissed at the person that traded them his milk every day for pasta, pudding, or a cafeteria dish containing nuts. One day he decided that he needed an underling to help him with his scams.

After a process of elimination, so to speak, he set his sights on Sasha. Sasha was relatively smart and would serve his needs well. However, in order to make sure that Sasha was right for the part, Matthew had to observe the boy outside of school. He stalked Sasha as Sasha walked home from school. Matthew was lead into a different neighborhood that seemed like a relatively cozy middle class neighborhood with yards that seemed to be regularly tended to. Sasha kept turning around as he walked and Matthew hid himself to prevent from being seen. It seemed that Sasha was constantly anxious about something, but Matthew could not put his finger on what it was exactly.

Matthew hid behind a car as he watched Sasha walked towards and entered his house. The house was a one story house with a driveway, a little garden out front, and lilac bushes everywhere. Matthew hid amongst a large lilac bush and watched Sasha from inside of the bush with his binoculars that he brought for that particular purpose.

Envy immediately struck the eight year old. Inside of the house was Sasha sitting on the couch, doing his homework on a TV tray. Beside him sat a man that Matthew later found out was Sasha's father. Sasha's father was helping him out with homework and a woman was giving Sasha a small plate of homemade cookies. Sasha thanked his mom and returned to his homework. Matthew's own mom used to be that attentive, but since she announced to Matthew that she was pregnant, she spent most of her attention on the unborn baby. As for Matthew's dad, however, he was always cold towards him. He acted more as an authority figure than a father.

It took about two hours until Sasha left the living room. Matthew worried about his mother getting pissed that he would arrive home later than he usually did. He started to doubt that when he considered how obsessed his mom was over her swollen stomach. During that two hour timeframe, Sasha finished his homework for the day, ate his snack, and watched TV.

Matthew watched as Sasha exited out of the living room. He wondered where the redhead was going. He had seen one of the lights turn on. He sneaked to another lilac bush to continue to spy on Sasha. Sasha was in what looked like to be his bedroom. The room was covered in plastic Halloween decorations and action figures. A Dungeons and Dragons board sat in the middle of all of the tacky decorations around the room. An old basset hound sat on top on Sasha's bed, sleeping like an old bear. It was kind of bizarre to see so many Halloween decorations in one room. The decorations also stayed up year round as if every day was Halloween to Sasha, as Matthew later found out.

Sasha greeted the old dog on the bed by petting it, "I'm home, you lazy old mutt."

The dog immediately woke up, wagged its tail, and started licking Sasha's hand. Then the dog started sniffing the air and then barked, growled, and howled at the window from the bed. The dog had picked up Matthew's scent from the yard. Matthew hid deeper within the lilac bush, knowing that if Sasha caught him, he would get in serious trouble over being in someone else's yard. He could still see from where he crouched down. Sasha opened the window and gazed out it.

Matthew let out a quiet sigh of relief when Sasha turned around, closing the window behind him, and scolded the dog, "be quiet! You can chase after the darn squirrels in the morning."

The dog made one last whine and lay down uneasily, knowing that a stranger was still in the yard. Sasha sighed, "If you're good after I get a bath and go down to dinner, I'll give you half of my pork chop. The dog turned and wagged his tail. "Good dog!" Sasha turned towards his dresser and got out a pajama set. Sasha changed out of his clothes. Sasha then put a dark green robe on and grabbed a basket that was filled with toiletries, most likely getting ready to go take a shower.

Matthew blushed at seeing his fellow classmate naked. He had never seen anyone naked before with the exception of walking in on his parents changing once. He also did not even know the similarities between boys and noted that his and Sasha's private areas looked the same. He did not want to think about it any further. He ran from the lilac bush, running straight home without taking a single glance back.

The next day at school, Matthew sat down at the loser's table for lunch. He avoided looking at Sasha all morning. Besides the awkwardness of seeing the other boy changing the night before, Matthew also feared that Sasha or his parents might have seen him lurking around their house. At the lunch table, Sasha did not scold him for trespassing nor flinch in Matthew's presence. The only one that probably knew he was there that night was the dumb dog.

Matthew tapped Sasha on the shoulder and asked him to meet him in a secluded part of the playground near the large pine tree. Sasha agreed and everything seemed to have been going according to plan. He would have asked Sasha to join him in on his schemes and Sasha would be his right hand man. That is if things went Matthew's way.

Sasha met up with him and asked him what he needed, Sasha's face filled with curiosity. Matthew decided to cut to the chase, "Sasha, wouldn't you like to not get picked on anymore by Darcy, Stacy, or their jerk friends?"

"Yeah, I hate being picked on by them," Sasha agreed. It seemed that Sasha and he were in the same boat regarding that issue.

"Great, I am too!" Matthew cheered, "I know just how to get them to leave us alone."

"How?" Sasha asked curiously.

Matthew grinned, "We'll be liked by them by scamming them out of all of their allowances and by pulling pranks on them. Think about it, they would do nothing to us if they are too poor and afraid of us. It would be great! We'll fight fire with fire!"

"It would not be great!" Sasha protested loudly. "You would just be acting like them!"

"They deserve it, Sasha!" Matthew yelled, "They pick on us every single day and I'm tired of being called fatso! I bet you're tired of them calling you a dweeb."

"I am tired of it," Sasha retorted, "but I'm not taking part in your stupid failed scams! They're lame and stupid! You're acting no better than Darcy, Matthew McGee!"

"You have ten seconds to take that back!" Matthew hissed. His young eyes were probably filled with rage, because Sasha flinched when he saw them.

"No!" Sasha shouted, "I don't want any part in it!"

Matthew charged at Sasha as fast as his little legs could. Sasha tried to push Matthew away from him, but Matthew was much heavier than he was. Sasha was pushed into the pine tree, his head and back hit the bark and his arms hit the pine needles. Sasha wailed at the pain of getting pricked by pine needles and from the pain in his back and the back of his head. Hot tears streamed down Sasha's face. "If you tattle-tell on me for what happened; I'll break your legs!" Matthew whispered harshly, before walking away.

That was the first time that Matthew had ever hurt Sasha. Sixteen years later and things have not changed much, except for the fact that Sasha never told on him for the incident involving the pine tree. The biggest irony of remembering that incident was that he was now in prison for hurting Sasha. It's funny how things turned out.

After that incident, Sasha pretty much became his lifelong enemy and sex partner at one point. Neither Seth nor Lucas knew about what happened at the pine tree. Matthew was not willing on telling them about what had happened. In his eyes, it was just a moment where his lost his temper. Just like the time after that and the time after that. Just like what happened at Sasha's bar. Sasha pushed Matthew's buttons, so he dealt with redhead to put Sasha back in his place.

Also after that incident, Sasha sat further away from Matthew at the loser table. Seth and Lucas found it kind of bizarre and even tried to figure out what Sasha's problem was when Sasha was out of earshot. Sasha would not tell them what happened. Lucas came to the conclusion on his own that Sasha thought he was too good for them and begun to despise the redhead. Seth did not express what he thought, other than Sasha was acting strange.


	3. Lucas Holmes

The guards passed a gold-colored envelope into his cell. The guard announced that he had mail and fell silent. Matthew inspected the letter and seen that it was from Lucas. He opened the letter and pulled out a card and a hundred dollar bill fell out. A piece of paper also fell out with the words "IOU" written across the slip of paper. The card does not say much except Lucas wishing Matthew a Merry "Shitmas" and that Seth and he would visit Matthew soon.

Lucas was still loyal after all of these years. The extent of Lucas' loyalty also kind of freaked  
Matthew out, but he would be the last to admit it. Lucas kept at Matthew's side like a jealous lover or a man crazily obsessed with a celebrity. Despite Lucas' creepy devotion to him, he still regarded Lucas as an important pawn in his life.

He wondered if it had anything to do with when Lucas first became his pawn a few days after the pine tree incident with Sasha. After Sasha rejected him, Matthew was still on the prowl for new lackeys. Since he found Lucas a softer nut to crack than Seth, Lucas was the next of the losers' table that Matthew had his eyes on.

Like with Sasha, Matthew stalked Lucas home, making sure to keep out of sight. Lucky for Matthew, Lucas did not live as far from the school as Sasha did. In fact, Lucas lived three blocks away from Sasha. The neighborhood Lucas lived in was a pretty high end upper middle class neighborhood. The wealth was on display in the neighborhood. Lion statues and fountains were on almost every lawn throughout the whole neighborhood. Lucas' house was no exception. Compared to mansion Lucas lived in at the moment, the house was a rusty old shack. However, the large Victorian house was still nicer than anything than Matthew had ever lived in.

The yard was filled with neatly trimmed shrubs and large statues to hide behind. Lucas went inside of his house and Matthew hid in a scrub to avoid getting detected. In the windows, he had seen a couple maids mopping and dusting. He also had seen an imposing man in a business suit. The man looked very stern and stoical. Compared to this man, his own dad looked like a softie. The man spoke in a harsh accented voice, "Lucas!" The man shoved Lucas' progress report in his face, "what in the bloody hell is this? You know damn well I expect excellence out of you. You got a C average on your report card? Are you going to blame this on your diabetes too? I buy sugar substitutes, insulin shots, and diabetes pills. Why the hell can't you keep your damn diabetes under control? Dr. Alpine called me today and told me that your blood sugar was a bit higher than normal last time you were at his office. That is inexcusable! Have you been getting chocolate from other kids at school? You know you're diabetic! It's not the food that Sylvia and Wendy have been fixing!"

"No Father, I haven't had any candy," Lucas' voice cracked, "school is too much for me sometimes and I get answers wrong."

"What the hell do you have to be so stressed out over?" Lucas' dad bickered, "I work 12 hours a goddamn day and come home and deal with a failure for a son! Not to mention I have to oversee everything in this damn house. At least your grandfather Malcolm and babushka Olga don't have to see what a failure you have become."

"They loved me," Lucas squeaked, meekly.

"I don't give a damn," Lucas' dad snapped, "Get out of my sight and go do your homework or something, you lazy bum!"

Lucas rushed past his dad and bolted outside and ran toward the wooden swing set in the yard and sat on the swing. He buried his hands in his face. "I want to kill daddy! I want to kill him and take over this house! I want to take a knife and cut him open!"

As Lucas sulked, a snake slithered by him. Lucas watched the snake with pure malice. He picked it up and talked to the snake, "I want to see what your insides look like, snake!" Lucas pulled out a knife and pressed it against the snake's scales.

That's when Matthew decided to intervene. Lucas saw Matthew coming out of the shrub and kept his knife on the snake. The snake curled its neck. Matthew knew it was about ready to strike at Lucas, knowing that it was in danger. "Is this some kind of working class thing? Showing up unannounced?" Lucas asked Matthew.

"No, dude, I came to offer you a deal." Matthew answered, "If you want it, you would need to let go of that snake first."

Lucas sneered at him, "Why should I?"

"Like you, that little guy just wants to live a long life and fulfill its role in life." Matthew replied, "It's not the snake's fault that your dad is a jerk. I seen the way your dad talked to you and I know that you take your anger out on animals, because your dad is big and stuff and animals are weak."

"That does not make me want to kill this snake or you any less!" Lucas scowled. He felt something take the snake and his knife away from him. Lucas looked up and seen the snake wrapped around Matthew's arm and his pocket knife in Matthew's hand.

"Hey, that's mine!" Lucas shouted and charged at Matthew. Matthew pocketed the knife and dodged Lucas.

"Not anymore," Matthew replied, "besides, I know how you can get revenge on both your father and the kids at school without killing anything."

"Oh yeah? How?" Lucas looked at him incredulously.

"Pranks and scams," Matthew replied.

"Don't mess with me, you idiot!" Lucas shouted, grabbing for Matthew's throat.

Matthew quickly grabbed for Lucas' midsection and tossed him to the ground. Matthew sat on Lucas' torso and pulled out the knife, "I don't want to hurt you, Lucas. Just hear me out first."

Lucas quaked with fear. He underestimated Matthew, "what does scams and pranks have to do with me and my father?"

"They would help you earn your revenge against your enemies," Matthew replied, "nothing makes enemies madder than having a wad of cash in your pocket. I can see it. You're tired of people picking on you. You want to prove to everyone that you're not a failure. Listen, I can see great talent in you and if you join me, you can use them."

Lucas' eyes softened, "It sounds really great."

"You would be answering to me too. I would be your friend and your leader," Matthew replied, getting up. He helped Lucas up and continued, "I'm going to make you somebody in return, somebody that would be respected in time."

"I'll do it," Lucas nodded, "it would be like that song `Opportunities.'"

"That's great," Matthew replied and then looked at Lucas strangely, "song?"

"You know, the one that goes; `You got the brawn. I got the brains. Let's make lots of money," Lucas replied, "I know working class have access to the music of The Pet Shop Boys. Don't they?"

"That's the first thing that needs to change," Matthew commanded, "No more of that "working class" stuff. For now on, I rule over you as your leader!"

Lucas scowled, "That's not fair! I have more money than you! My dad is an important man. My mom is an heiress!"

"Yeah, I don't give two craps about that," Matthew replied, "I beat you back there by taking your knife and you are now my underling, like it or not."

"Alright, alright!" Lucas huffed, "The Bolshies always beat the Tsars, always! –Or at least that's what my grandma says."

"Right," Matthew replied, not understanding what Lucas said, "Also, no more killing animals. Those animals just want food in their bellies, houses, and to make babies. They're not hurting you by existing. If you want to hurt someone, hurt the ones that deserve it. Darcy, Stacy, their gang, and eventually your dad. It has to be sneaky and underhanded so they don't realize that any damage has occurred until it's too late. As for your dad, that's going to be much later."

"I get it. I get it." Lucas grinned, "We do a sneak attack on them that they won't even feel."

"That's the idea," Matthew replied. He sat the garner snake down. The snake slithered away, disappearing into the grass. It got to live to see another day. "With a good scam, more people would part with their allowances. In order to have a good scam, you need a good plan to start the project up. Get my drift?"

"Your ideas are good, but you suck at making things for your scams and that's why barely anyone is fooled by them," Lucas explained, "if you want to create a good scam. You must make things that people would find believable."

"And I suppose that you know how to make things," Matthew glared.

Lucas grinned smugly, "as a matter of fact, I do. If you would follow me into my garage, I would show you!"

"Fine," Matthew curiously followed Lucas, still miffed over Lucas telling that his creations were subpar. Lucas pushed a button to open his garage. Gadgets and wooden creations littered the garage. Cuckoo clocks hung from the walls, ticking away as Matthew stepped in, looking at everything in awe. "You did not make these! There's no way! Your dad probably made those or something."

"I did make those," The smug expression never left Lucas' face. "It's amazing how many things you can create with wood. Also, be careful and try not to bump anything. I would hate to kill you if anything happened to the race car I crafted last year. It took me months to build."

Then Matthew turned around and spotted the race car. It was a small race car that looked more like a child's wooden go-kart that an adult built than a child. Lucas explained the process he used to create the body of race car and how long it took to carefully carve the designs in the wood. The technical stuff was Greek to the young Matthew's mind; He did not understand a word of it.

Matthew quickly lost his concentration and looked around the garage some more. He quickly spotted a TV-looking thing sitting on a desk. He examined it like an alien spaceship, "What the hell is that?" Matthew asked, pointing towards the thing, "is that some kind of TV set or something?"

"It's an Apple Macintosh computer. I got it last year when they first came out." Lucas replied, "You never seen a computer before?"

"A computer? You mean those large things in the TV shows?" Matthew wondered if Lucas was trying to mess with him. There is no way that small thing could even be the same thing as the large machines in the science fiction movies. There was no way.

"Yeah," Lucas replied, "except the company who made my computer downsized the larger computers to fit in somebody's home."

"So can you communicate with Soviet soldiers and shot laser beams at people," Matthew asked eagerly, hovering around the computer, his curiosity of the computer growing.

"No! I can draw images on the computer and type words on it. That's pretty much it." Lucas replied, "What makes you think that I have any contact with the Soviet Union? Just because my babushka is Russian, that does not mean that I'm a Soviet spy or whatever."

"What a lame machine! I can't believe your dad spent money on that - Wait, you're Russian?" Matthew asked, "I honestly don't care if you are or not. What does ba-whatever mean anyway?"

Matthew noticed Lucas' face softened. Matthew even to this day had no idea why. Lucas gave a genuine smile and replied, "Well, thanks, I guess. Babushka? It's Russian for grandmother. I'm only part Russian. My father and grandfather are British and my mother was American."

"Where is your mom anyway? Is she out getting a new fur coat or something?" Matthew asked.

Lucas' smile faltered at the question, "She died when I was five from diabetic shock."

"Geez," Matthew rubbed the back of his own neck, uneasily, "Well, I think we should think of ideas for our next scam before your dad comes back being a jerk."

A/N: A bit of information on Lucas' family. Lucas' grandpa Malcolm Holmes lived in England and married a Russian immigrant named Olga. They had Lucas' father and moved to the US when Lucas' dad was a teenager. When Lucas' dad got older, he met Lucas' mother, an American woman who came from money and had Type 1 diabetes, when Lucas' dad was just starting climb the corporate ladder. They had Lucas and Lucas' mother died when Lucas was only five years old. Due to Lucas' dad being estranged from his deceased wife's family, Lucas never knew his mom's side of the family. Hope this helps clear things up some.


	4. Seth Lovering

Matthew received another card in the prison a couple of days later. This time, the card was from Seth. The message on the card was pretty generic and the only thing that came with the card was a free tattoo coupon from Seth's shop with the word "IOU" written on the back. "What a cheap bastard," Matthew snorted, tossing the card onto the desk in the room and sitting down on his bed.

To think this was how Seth was going to repay him back for all of the times he got Seth out of his house growing up. What is he supposed to do with the coupon anyway? Seth gets his wife pregnant and Matthew gets screwed out of a Christmas gift for some ankle-biter that has not even been born yet. Yeah, that sounds like a swell way to spend the holidays. There was no way he could get up and leave his cell to go to Seth's tattoo shop. Matthew wondered just how much Seth was going to do to prove that he is unlike his dad. Matthew had the misfortune of meeting said-man and seeing such how the man could be around Seth and Seth's mom.

Time was on Matthew's side the day that he made Lucas and Seth his pawns. He was able to convince Lucas to join him in just about the right amount of time for Matthew to get back to the school to follow Seth home. Of course, Lucas tagged along like a puppy following its master. Matthew knew Seth's routine from occasionally eavesdropping on Seth's conversations with the art teacher and knew that Seth often stayed afterschool in the art room for several hours at a time whatever reason. It was like the guy was afraid to go home or something.

Lucas and Matthew kept hidden behind one of the teacher's cars, waiting for Seth to come out to go home. Matthew quickly explained to Lucas that he must be quiet and follow his lead when Seth comes out. "We need Seth to join our group," Matthew added, "I can tell that he also has plenty of talent. Also, there would probably be some lifting involved in the scams and I'm not hurting myself trying to lift things. That ain't my job!"

"So you're going to follow Seth home?" Lucas asked.

Matthew hummed, "Pretty much. I need to watch him when he's at home to get to know him before I ask him. Also, I need to find out what's behind that damn mask of his. Just imagine what is behind that thing! I bet he has bad buck teeth or something."

"I had seen him without his mask once. His face seemed fine to me. Maybe it's something else?" Lucas asked, shrugging.

As soon as Seth came out, Matthew quietly shushed Lucas. Seth came out with a painted drawing of dark colored house. Seth was dragging his feet when it came to going home, which did not go unnoticed by Matthew. Seth was acting very strangely and Matthew wanted to get to the bottom of it. Matthew gestured at Lucas to carefully follow him.

To Matthew's surprise, Seth lived near him – in Park n' Flush nonetheless. Matthew had never been inside of the trailer park before. Seth lived in a red trailer that was sitting on cinderblocks. Park n' Flush was a dump. There was junk everywhere. If it was not for the trailers, Matthew would have assumed that Park n' Flush was a part of the garbage dump. The house Seth lived in was also quite turbulent. The sounds of an arguing couple can be heard from where Matthew and Lucas were hiding.

Lucas' sheltered upbringing made itself known through his reactions to the trailer park. Lucas looked at the trailer park, mortified, and refused to crouch down. Matthew groaned with annoyance. "What are you doing?"

"Trying not to touch anything," Lucas replied superciliously, "We're in the ghetto! There's garbage everywhere. It stinks! It probably has rats and cockroaches! I don't understand why the work - people would want to live here. Why can't they just earn more money or something? I mean, they're living in cheap RVs without wheels for crying out loud!"

"First of all, shut up!" Matthew groaned, feeling a headache coming along, "Second of all, those `cheap RVs' are trailers. Lastly, I've lived in the city and I know for a fact that this is not the ghetto; it's just a trailer park. Are you coming?"

"No, I'll stay here," Lucas looked around in disgust.

"Fine, just try not to get an angry mob after you while I go watch Seth," Matthew headed towards the trailer. Who knew that getting a spoiled rich kid to work for him was going to be such a pain in the ass? Matthew headed towards the noise. He knew that sound from his own parents fighting a couple of times when he was younger. The only difference is that he heard stuff being thrown and Seth's voice also joining the shouts.

Matthew peered inside of the trailer and what he saw could only be described as pure chaos. A weary brunette woman that Matthew later found out was Seth's mother had a black eye and was cowering in a corner from a man with a cheap whiskey bottle in his hand that Matthew later found out was Seth's father. Seth tugged on the man's leg, demanding that the man should not hit his mom.

The man sneered at him with contempt and kicked Seth's frail body into the wall. Seth's mother cried out in horror at seeing her son being abused. Seth lay limply against the wall, cradling his sore stomach. "What the hell is the matter with you, boy? Who the hell do you think you are? I am the man in the house, not you! If you were not such a fucking crybaby, I wouldn't have to hit you all the damn time. You think I like hitting you, huh?" Seth's father yelled, kicking Seth again. Seth's mother cried out again, begging the man to have mercy on their son. "Shut up, bitch!" Seth's dad yelled, throwing his whiskey bottle at Seth's mom, "Goddamn it! Look what you did, you worthless skank! You made me lose my fucking alcohol. It's more important to me than your worthless ass or your worthless spawn!"

"S-Seth is y-your child too," Seth's mom blubbered, crying into her hands.

"Yeah, one that you pushed onto me years ago that I didn't even fucking want in the first place!" Seth's dad argued back vehemently. "Now get my fucking alcohol! I really want to forget this entire fucking house." Seth's dad started rambling, his voice was getting stirred with each horrible word he uttered, "I especially want to forget your worthless ass, Seth's worthless ass and the worthless ass of that crazy damn brother of yours who lives in the bomb shelter out back. I don't even why you let your piece of shit brother, Roy, stay with us in the first place!"

"What about dinner tonight? Seth must be hungry after a long day. Please, Derrick! Please just forget about getting drunk tonight," Seth's mom pleaded, still cowering in the corner.

"Fuck no! The little bastard can starve for all I care!" Seth's dad growled menacingly.

Seth's parents continued to argue while Seth rushed into his room and locked the door behind him. Seth visibly shook as he heard his parents in the other room. Seth flopped onto his bed and sulked in the worn out blankets on his bed. Matthew watched from Seth's bedroom window in shock, he did not know how to react to Seth's situation or how to approach Seth, which was a first for him. He watched as Seth pulled the dried watercolor painting from earlier and hung it on his wall using tape.

Seth then removed his mask and then set it on his nightstand. Matthew was shocked to discover what was behind the mask. Every inch of the lower part of Seth's face was covered with bruises from his cheek down to his chin. Some of the bruises were fresh and some were starting to fade away. From the scene that happened in the kitchen/living room area, Matthew knew who had given Seth all of those bruises.

Seth did not seem to notice Matthew by the window. He buried his face into the pillow and screamed out his frustrations into it. He beat his fists into the pillow and sobbed, "Why does he do this? Every day is the same! I can't take it anymore. I can't! The only ones who will miss me when I'm gone are Ma and Uncle Roy. I hope they don't cry too much."

Matthew was confused about what Seth meant. He assumed that Seth was going to run away. However, that seemed to be not the case when Seth pulled out a handgun. Seth held the gun with an unsteady grip towards himself, heaving from the adrenaline rush. Seth cocked the hammer back and pointed the gun at his chest.

Matthew had seen enough. He quickly opened the window and climbed in. The eight year old quickly rushed towards Seth and slapped the gun out of his hand using the element of surprise to get the upper hand in the high-risk situation, "what are you doing? You idiot! You could have been shot!"

"You-" Seth's shocked expression quickly turned into a scowl, "what the heck are you doing looking through my window? Were you spying on me?"

"I was in the neighborhood and seen you playing with a gun," Matthew huffed, kicking the gun to the side into a deep drain in the middle of the room. At least he knew that the gun was long gone. "You could have hurt yourself!" Matthew shouted, "Are you an idiot?"

"What if I did want to hurt myself?" Seth asked grimly.

At the time, Matthew was confused about Seth's words. Matthew had no concept of the term suicide, let alone fully understood the concept of death. He even doubted that Seth even fully understood what he was doing at the time. All he knew at the time was that he needed to get Seth out of that house and calm him down. "Look, Lucas is at the edge of the trailer park. I can force his ass to get all three of us pizza or something."

"Why the hell would you go through that much trouble for me?" Seth asked, exasperated, "what's in it for you? Huh?"

"Hey, we're friends now and you're now my follower, so you listen to me now. Now, let's ditch this place and go get pizza," Matthew shrugged and added, "By the sound of it, your dad is going to spend grocery money on beer or whatever, so you don't have much choice but to come with me."

"Yeah, that's nothing new," Seth muttered bitterly, "Follower? What the heck? I never agreed to be your frickin' slave! What makes you think I want to agree to that?"

"Heh, let's put it this way; would you rather stay here where you would get beat up all night or would you rather sneak out of your house with me and Lucas and come back at bedtime?" Matthew smirked, knowingly. He approached the window and started to climb out, "Are you coming?"

"Wait a minute!" Seth stood there to ponder on Matthew's proposal. Matthew hopped out of the window. Matthew heard footsteps behind him and turned. Seth was rushing towards him with his mask crunched up in his hand, "I said wait up, you darn butthead!"

Matthew stopped, "So you'll help me with my scams and be my friend?"

"Yeah," Seth nodded, "I'll become your friend and follower. As a follower, I need to correct you on your scams. They stink! They make no sense. You need to make stuff that kids would actually want to buy and use. Not stupid stuff! You also sometimes have scams on days where kids are flat broke. Try the beginning and the end of the month when they get their allowances. Also, your spelling and artwork stinks as well! I can barely tell what is on your signs!"

"Everyone is a critic," Matthew huffed. He patted Seth on the back, "welcome to the team!"

They quickly ran into Lucas who was squatting away fireflies like a ninja from a movie. Matthew snickered at him and Seth remained silent. Matthew already had a metaphorical hook into Seth and it was one that Seth would not be able break even years after that night. Lucas' gaze quickly caught sight of the condition of Seth's face. Seth quickly put his mask back on, subconscious on how he looked without it.

"Oh Lucas! Seth has agreed to join us," Matthew announced. "To celebrate, you're buying us pizza!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Lucas growled, "Why me?" The pizza that night tasted so good. Food always tasted better when Matthew got his way. He was able to convince most of the loser's table to help him with his schemes. He was getting something out of it and both Seth and Lucas got something out of it. He did not feel the least bit guilty in recruiting them.


	5. Eddy McGee

Matthew received another envelope the next day from the guards. This time it was from his brother, Eddy. The letter consisted of Eddy letting Matthew know how his life was going. Typical teenage stuff of getting detentions all of the time, barely passing all of his classes, and working at their dad's used car business.

Matthew noticed that Eddy intentionally left out any information on Edd. Matthew could read in between the lines to know what was going on. He knew that his brother moved in onto what was rightfully his. Despite his extreme jealousy, he decided to wait it out. He did not want to tempt his own brother to turn against him and do anything to spite him.

The day that Eddy was born taught him two lessons that day that change the way he viewed the world not unlike how that kind of information would change other children's perception once they learn the facts of life and about their own bodies.

Matthew remembered that he was not thrilled over his mom's pregnancy with Eddy. He never wanted his mom to give birth to Eddy. As a child, he had the unfounded paranoia of Eddy getting all of his toys and his parents' affections. His parents' preoccupation over Eddy's impending birth did not help his fear in the slightest. Once Matthew had expressed his dislike of his new baby brother to his father during his mother's pregnancy and even told his father that they should take Eddy back to "whatever Eddy came from." Angered by Matthew's words, his father spanked him and told him to grow up. After that incident, Matthew grew to resent his own father.

The day of Eddy's birth, Matthew's father had picked him up from school. Matthew's mother had started having contractions that morning before Matthew went to school and had to be dropped off at the hospital. He was driven to the hospital and was led straight into his mother's room. His mother's legs were spread before a female doctor, breathing heavily as she pushed, moaning loudly as pain coursed through her entire body. Her hair was sweaty and matted. "You two are just in time," Matthew's mother groaned, heaving as she pushed again under her doctor's instruction, "Little Eddy is just about to come out. Thank you for picking up Matthew, Carl," Matthew's mom replied, breathlessly, "I think seeing his brother born would make our little Matthew more at ease about becoming an older brother."

"It's no problem, Margaret." Carl replied.

"You named the little guy already?" The doctor asked. When Margaret answered affirmatively, the doctor continued, "That's a great name for him. Right now, Eddy is crowning. Relax, Margaret. You are doing just fine!"

"What does crowning mean?" Matthew asked, looking in the direction of the doctor. He saw a lot of blood coming out of his mother and a small bald head emerging out from between his mom's legs. Matthew felt dizzy and began to tremble at the sight. All three of the adults let out of a collective gasp of worry as he trembled. Carl quickly moved his elder son to one of the hospital chairs and instructed Matthew to relax.

Matthew sat as instructed and gathered his composure. A couple of pushes later, Eddy was born. The doctor quickly gave Eddy to Margaret and Margaret smiled warmly at Eddy. The motherly glow on her face made Matthew sick, "Welcome to the world, Eddy!"

"Congratulations, Eddy is a very healthy baby boy!" The doctor announced.

This is what a baby looks like when they are first born? Eddy was purple and pink when he was first born and was connected to the umbilical which looked like a twisted blue cord to Matthew. Eddy let out his first cries which hurt Matthew's ears. Margaret just cooed at her new son and cradled him in her arms, whispering loving words to Eddy. Eddy just fussed as Margaret continued to cradle him, beaming at the new baby, then at her elder son, and then at her husband.

Carl headed towards the doctor and was handed a scalpel by the doctor. Carl cut the umbilical cord that was connected to Eddy. He went towards his wife and newborn child and leaned towards them. He took Eddy from his wife's arms and held Eddy for a while. Eddy was starting to gain some color in him as the minutes gone by. Then Margaret brushed her hand against Carl's forearm and pointed towards Matthew. There was a silent agreement between them and Carl crouched down in front of Matthew with Eddy crying in his arms. "Matthew, this is your baby brother. You hold him under the back of his neck and under his butt."

Matthew reluctantly held his crying brother for a few seconds before giving his baby brother back to his dad, wordlessly. When he handed Eddy back to Carl, he noticed the same thing that he noticed when he spied on Sasha; He and Eddy's private areas look the same. He decided to ask his dad about that later on when he was not holding Eddy.

Carl handed Eddy to the doctor and she finished getting Eddy cleaned up. "Have you two decided on a middle name for Eddy?"

"It's Skipper," Carl answered, "Eddy Skipper McGee."

Carl quickly excused himself to go smoke a cigarette and took Matthew along with him while one of the nurses was checking Eddy's vitals. Matthew sat in the hospital's designated smoking area along with his dad and a couple of other people. The area smelted heavily of cigarette smoke. Carl took a long drag from his cigarette. The new father looked exhausted from tending to his delivering wife. Carl attempted to have a conversation with his son about his grades and school, but Matthew only gave him one-worded answers. He did not want to tell his dad about getting bullied and making new friends within the loser's table.

"Dad?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, Matthew?" Carl asked, taking another drag from his cigarette.

"Back there, why was Eddy's and my below things the same?" Matthew asked, curiously.

"Below things? You mean the thing you pee out of, right?" Carl asked, awkwardly. Matthew nodded, worried yet anxious about his dad's response to the question. Carl rubbed the back of his own neck with the cigarette still lit between his lips. "Christ, I knew this question would pop up sooner or later. Matthew, that thing means that you're both boys. When people are born, they are born with a particular thing that they pee out of, so that the doctor would know whether a baby is a boy or a girl. When you grow up, you'll become a man and still have that thing between your legs."

Matthew knew that his dad was uncomfortable, but pressed on, "So every boy and man's things looks the same?"

"Yes, Matthew," Carl groaned, "Each man and boy has that particular thing."

The next question came out of Matthew's lips. "So what kind of things do girls have?"

Carl sputtered and coughed, almost dropping his cigarette, "Wait until you're older to ask that question, Matthew!"

Eddy was taken home a few days later. Matthew had to stay with his grandpa until his parents got back home with Eddy. Once Carl picked him up and brought him home, he realized that having a new baby brother was not about the giggling babies and contentment that the Johnson &amp; Johnson commercials had him believe. Eddy had been screaming his head off every few hours only granting Matthew relief in between fits to snooze.

With Eddy being colicky, Carl and Margaret worked tirelessly to try to soothe Eddy by giving into the baby's high-pitched wordless demands, ignoring Matthew for the most part unless it was mealtime. Matthew could hear his new baby brother all the way from his room. Neither watching cartoons nor playing with his toys offered Matthew any relief from Eddy's constant cries. He did not understand why his parents wanted such an annoying pest in the first place.

Bedtime came and Matthew thought he was finally going to get some peace for the night. Eddy was snoozing yet again and his parents had fallen asleep. Matthew was awoken with a start when he heard his brother's cries once again. He groaned and glanced at the clock, it was midnight. Matthew tried to cover his ears with a pillow, but Eddy's cries kept him up. His parents were still passed out asleep from a long tiring day.

Matthew finally had enough of the baby's screams and stomped towards Eddy's room downstairs. The baby had not even been home a day and it was already getting on Matthew's every last nerve. The room that became Eddy's nursery had a disco ball that had been there before they had moved in. Eddy lay inside of his crib, fussing loudly with his mouth wide open.

Matthew stomped over to the crib and slapped the side of the crib, "Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!" Eddy's cries only increased in volume. Matthew yelled out, hitting the crib repeatedly, trying to drown out Eddy's cries, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Eddy would not stop crying and Matthew was quickly losing his temper. He grabbed Eddy out of the crib and spanked Eddy hard. This only caused Eddy to cry even louder than before. "Go to sleep!" Matthew demanded, throwing the baby blanket over Eddy's head. That incident would not be the last night that Matthew physically abused his younger brother.

Matthew was frantic. Eddy would not stop crying. Matthew paced around the room. He was so tired and irritated. He just wanted some sleep. He had school tomorrow and he would not be able to scam his classmates with Seth and Lucas if he was tired. He was a child, himself. He should not being tending to a screaming baby on a school night. Life was not fair!

After having enough of Eddy's screams, Matthew tried a different approach to getting Eddy to quiet down. He got Eddy out of his crib again and rocked the baby like their mother had done. He began to sing the parts of a song he remembered his mom playing on a record, "Jolene, please don't take my man. Jolene, please don't take him just because you can. Your beauty is beyond compare with flaming locks of auburn hair and I cannot compete with you, Jolene!"

Eddy began to quiet down, the longer that Matthew repeated those lyrics droning on, tiredly, hoping that Eddy would go to sleep. Eddy yawned and stared at his older brother. Matthew kept repeating the song to Eddy to lull Eddy into a peaceful slumber. Eddy finally closed his little eyes and fell asleep within his older brother's arms.

"You finally decided to go to sleep, you annoying little pipsqueak!" Matthew spoke quietly to the sleeping infant. He walked over to the rocking chair with Eddy in his arms and flopped down on the rocking chair, tired. He rocked in the chair, starting to dose off into a finally peaceful sleep. His last thought before succumbing to sleep was that Eddy was more trouble than he was worth.

There were plenty of nights where Matthew had to rock his own brother to sleep, especially when their dad worked late and Margaret slept like a rock after a long day of trying to balance out being a mother to Matthew, being a mother to Eddy, getting chores done, and getting dinner done before Carl came home. He envied both Lucas and Seth for being only children. They did not have to deal with a screaming baby brother at home. He complained about it to Seth and Lucas, but they snickered at him and told him that it sucked to be him. Once Lucas even joked that Matthew should give his brother to the Goblin King, but Matthew did not understand the joke at the time.

A/N: The song obviously does not belong to me. It belongs to Dolly Parton.


	6. Running Away

Seth and Lucas surprised Matthew when they entered into the prison discreetly. Matthew watched as Lucas bribed a couple of crooked guards to look the other direction. He supposed that five thousand dollars each would be enough to bribe any guard willing to go against the rules. To Lucas, five thousand dollars was just pocket change. Seth brought in a black duffel bag with him into the cell.

Matthew observed the duffel bag attentively. Seth noticed his curiosity and grinned, opening up the duffel bag. The tools of Seth's trade were in the duffel bag; Tattoo guns, ink, binders, disinfectant, fresh needles still in their packages, and gloves. Seth then handed Matthew the binder and instructed him to pick his first tattoo. Suddenly the IOUs and the tattoo coupon made sense. Seth could always point out prison tattoos, homemade tattoos that were done by an amateur, and other kinds of tattoos. To Seth, tattooing was a work of art and one where he would not accept anything else than perfection, especially when it came to tattooing a friend.

After giving it much thought, Matthew decided on a tattoo of a King Cobra, one of the most feared snakes on the planet. A single bite from a king cobra is enough to kill 20 people. They are such beautiful and deadly creatures. Getting a tattoo of one would be pretty rad. Seth decided on the location of the tattoo and placed a mouth guard in Matthew's mouth. As Seth explained to him, the mouthpiece is to prevent Matthew's teeth from grinding against each other during the entire process. Seth went on to rub alcohol wipes on Matthew's bicep, explaining he would do the tattoo outline for Christmas and color it in for Matthew's birthday. Seems fair enough.

Matthew always had the pleasure of seeing Seth hard at work – especially with their scams. What surprised Matthew about the way Seth and his tattoo artist business was how professional Seth was at his tattoo shop. Seth had the professionalism of a doctor and the creativity of a world famous artist when he was behind a tattoo gun. The human skin was his canvas and the tattoo gun was his paintbrush.

Seth and Lucas obviously worked together to get him this Christmas gift. As Seth got to work on Matthew's new tattoo, Matthew hissed internally as he tried to stay still as Seth started tattooing the area below Matthew's shoulder. He was not even sure how Seth could have so many tattoos. The guy must be a masochist or something. Lucas sat back and observed Matthew's reactions with morbid curiosity. So Matthew hated needles, it was not like Lucas can use it to get the upper-hand in a fight against him. He still can wipe the floor with Lucas in a heartbeat.

`Everybody has fears, it's how you respond to it,' As Roy would tell him with a slight drawl. Matthew thought back to the time that Lucas, Seth, and he had ran away from their homes. That was also the time he had met Roy for the first time, the wisest guy that Matthew had ever met in his life. Matthew considered him a real American hero.

It started when all three boys discussed their family troubles with one another at the age of nine. Matthew's parents were overworked, Seth's dad still physically abused him, Seth's mom still cowered at the sound of her husband's voice, and Lucas' dad still treated Lucas like a parasite rather than a son. The three boys hatched a plan at lunch over what they were going to do about their situation. They decided that they were better off supporting each other. Essentially they were planning on running away from their homes.

Lucas stole over a thousand dollars from his dad, Seth took a couple of his uncle's hunting rifles, and Matthew took his dad's camping and fishing supplies. Lucas carried five bags of clothes, his diabetic supplies, and toiletries. Matthew just brought clothes, a lighter, and a pocket knife. Seth brought his clothes and art supplies.

"Tell me again why we are camping and not going to a hotel?" Lucas groaned, struggling to carry all of the four duffel bags and suitcase he brought with.

"`Cause you idiot, three kids with a lot of stuff would look way too weird and they would call our parents!" Matthew explained. "Did you pack only the stuff you needed?"

"Yes!" Lucas retorted indignantly, "I got the stuff I need to survive in this darn wilderness. You guys are going to thank me later."

Seth carried his backpack on his back and the groceries on each of his arms. Matthew also carried a case of soda for them. They had stopped by a gas station before they ventured out into the sea of trees. "Good thing I brought Uncle Roy's hunting rifles. If we need to, we can go hunting and eat what we need to in order to survive. If we're lucky, we can shoot a deer that would give us meat for about a week. Deer meat is actually pretty good. Heck, frog legs do not taste any different than chicken and there's plenty of frogs near the river."

"Frog meat? People actually eat that?" Lucas scrunched up his nose in disgust.

"Lucas you ate fish eggs and raw fish a few times with your dad," Matthew stated.

"That was different! It was caviar and sushi." Lucas replied, "You know what, never mind! How long is it going to take before we reach one of the clearings?"

"It's not too far away," Seth replied, "trust me, I've been here before. There's a lake near the area that we can fish in. You can find wild turkeys, wild pigs, and rabbits if we run out of snacks. We need to limit getting stuff from the store in case the adults there find out."

"We're living like criminals? Ah, c'mon! Does either of you two even know how to cook a fish or a deer?" Lucas complained.

"We spent over fifty dollars on stuff from the gas station. If we go back so soon, they will find out that we ran away." Seth explained. "How hard could it be to cook those? I've made myself meals before." Seth continued walking until he reached his destination. The clearing was a bald patch in the middle of the woods near a lake. "We're here. We might need to first roll one of the logs to use as a sofa."

"Well, quit wasting time and go find one," Matthew ordered, "I'll stay here and watch the stuff."

"Of course," Seth rolled his eyes, setting his stuff down, "I also took a few of my uncle's magazines when he was not looking. We're in the woods, so we're going to need some entertainment from getting too bored."

"What kind of magazines are they?" Matthew asked; his curious peaked at the magazine's contents, "are they car magazines?"

"Are they the latest issue of Woodworking Quarterly?" Lucas asked, just as curious as Matthew was.

"No, they're magazines with women on it!" Seth replied.

"I've already seen those fashion and hair magazines. They're boring! My mom collects them," Matthew complained.

"I bet they're not magazines with naked women," Seth retorted.

"What?" Matthew started grabbing at Seth's bags, "Let me see that!"

"Hey, hold on a second!" Seth jumped, quickly shrugging off his bags, "I'll get them. Geez, are naked magazines really that big of a deal?"

"That big of a deal? I haven't even seen a woman naked before, except for the time I walked in on my parents changing." Matthew exclaimed and then turned to Lucas, "have you ever seen a naked woman before?"

"Nope," Lucas shook his head.

"Alright, here!" Seth reached into his bag and handed Matthew the magazine, "Lucas and I will be right back with the log. Hopefully you got a fire going by then."

"Ah, I wanted to see the magazine too!" Lucas complained, reluctantly trailing behind Seth.

It was pretty easy finding sticks in the forest. It was like finding hay in a haystack. With the wood problem gone, Matthew could spend more time alone with the magazine. He sat on the hard ground and carefully opened the magazine like an individual would open up a book containing all of the universe's secrets. Matthew gulped and turned to a random page. He reached into one of the bags with his free hand and got out some beef jerky. He opened it and took a bit out of it.

On the page contained a blonde woman spread-eagle, showing her glistening pink meaty slit to the camera. He understood then what his dad meant about girls and women having a different part below their legs. Matthew face turned crimson at the image. Matthew was attracted to the woman on the magazine, but it was not a sexual attraction. It was more like seeing a splendid painting. His blush turned even brighter when he realized that he looked at the woman the same way that he looked at Sasha. He wondered if there was something abnormal about him. Why would he look at Sasha the same way as he looked at a random woman on a magazine?

If someone knew about his thoughts from that day, Matthew would shrug it off and declare that day was when he first started to open his eyes to what he wanted in life. He wanted to fuck indiscriminately as long he could become erect at the sight of the person. He struggled with his bisexuality for years until he gave up and accepted that he wanted to fuck guys as much as he wanted to fuck women. He later asked Seth several years after the incident on why he brought Roy's magazines when they went camping. Seth only shrugged and disclosed the true reason that he brought the magazines; Seth brought them to impress him and Lucas.

He breathed in the clean, crisp air and started to relax as he set the magazine down. The forest was quite calming and enchanting. In the forest, he can escape his responsibilities as an older brother and an elementary school student. He did not have to worry about screaming babies, obnoxious classmates, or homework. He can just be himself within the sea of trees and with Seth and Lucas. This was the life for him!

Lucas and Seth came back, rolling a large log to their campsite near the stick pile. Seth and Lucas were heaving over having to push that log. "Nice job, guys," Matthew clapped and hooted, "Doesn't freedom smell great?"

"Yeah, until the bugs start biting," Lucas muttered.

"If you want to leave and go back to that jerk dad of yours, be my guest!" Matthew snapped. Lucas lowered his head in defeat and did not say another word. Matthew turned towards Seth, "That magazine of yours is really something. I didn't know what a girl's down there looked like before I peeked at the magazine."

"You don't know what a lady's pussy looks like?" Seth asked, "didn't you watch that brother of yours being born?"

"Yeah, I remember that my little brother came out of – oh!" It dawned on him of where exactly his little brother came out of. "I wonder how my little brother even got in my mom's belly. I think he might have been some kind of growth that happened when my mom was asleep one night."

"Maybe your mother ate something bad and got your little brother." Lucas pondered, "You know, like a tapeworm."

"Both of you two are wrong!" Seth declared, "Babies come from sex!"

"What is sex?" Matthew asked. That small word was completely foreign to the nine year old. He had never heard his parents mention the word. He had never even heard anyone else mention it to him. He wondered if Seth was telling him the truth. He was not the only one that was surprised; Lucas was silently taking all of the information with curious wonder.

"You know that thing guys have between their legs?" Seth questioned them like a teacher asking questions in class.

"Yeah! My down there! I heard that all guys have them!" Matthew blurted. He at least knew that part.

"Well, that part is called a dick," Seth informed them, knowing more on the subject than most nine year olds did, "It starts when a man and woman act more lovey-dovey to each other than they usually do. The man and woman find a quiet place and lock the door. The man puts his dick inside of a woman's pussy and squirts baby gravy in her pussy that creates a baby. They wait months after the man squirts his baby gravy and a baby is born. That's how I was made and how you two and everyone else in this world was made, including Matthew's little brother."

Squeals of disgust resonated throughout the campsite from everyone except for Seth. "That is disgusting!" Matthew complained, "I don't want to think of my parents doing that!" Sad part was he recalled his parents acting more lovey-dovey towards each other. It was months before his brother was born. They would gaze into each other's eyes more than usual at the dinner table and were giggling at each other like love struck schoolgirls. They would also spoil Matthew with movie rentals and new toys, so that they could disappear in their bedroom for an hour at a time. It seemed like Seth was telling him the truth. "Is that sex-thing mentioned in that magazine too?"

Seth nodded and grabbed the magazine and flipped to a random page where a guy had his shaft halfway inside of a woman.

"That's not as bad as imagining my parents doing that," was Matthew's quick response. The guy in the photo looked like he really enjoyed the act and Matthew wondered if he too would enjoy the act when he gets older. "Is it possible for two guys to want to do the sex-thing together?"

"Yeah, my dad calls it being queer and considers it strange," Seth shrugged, emotionlessly.

"How do know so much about sex and queers?" Lucas finally spoke.

"My dad," Seth replied, monotonously, which sent a shiver down Matthew's spine of just how much emotions Seth bottled up, "My dad told me that the only reason I exist is because he wanted some easy sex and my mom couldn't keep her legs closed. He said that he would not have done that a second time if he knew mom would have gotten pregnant." Seth inhaled sharply, "As for the queer part, dad bought a dress from some yard sale and told me he would put it on me if I didn't stop acting like such a queer. He said that queers act like sissies and kiss other guys like women and stick their dicks into each other's butts."

Matthew stayed quiet. All of that information was a lot to take in. Besides all of the information on sexual intercourse and homosexuality, Matthew found out more on how horrible Seth's father was. Matthew's dad never told him that he was an unwanted child. The only thing Matthew's dad ever told him was his behavior sometimes was uncalled for. The gust of what Carl said to his own son was that he was disappointed in his elder son, but still loved him and wanted him to remain a part of the family. Despite that, Matthew still despised his father with every part of his being. The day already seemed like it was going to be a long, hard one.


	7. Friends

Lucas and Seth discussed the forest incident while Matthew clenched his teeth, trying not to let out a scream. They both chuckled at remembering the porn magazines. Seth chuckled at the fact that he had to explain the birds and the bees to his two best friends and Lucas laughed at how incredibly naïve he was at the time. "To think that I had to tell the biggest pervert I know today about what happens when two people get in between the sheets, about baby-making, and about gay people. What a world!" Seth joked. They all knew he was referring to Matthew. Matthew took a swing at Seth which Seth ducked, tattoo gun still in hand, "Easy there, Rocky Balboa! I'm still working on your tattoo. Chill out, I was only joking."

"Just get my tattoo done," Matthew grunted as the tattoo needle made contact with his flesh once more. How long does it take to get one tattoo done?

"I don't know why you're so pissy," Lucas snorted, "You've slept with more people than Seth and I put together."

"That's because you still haven't got any yet," Matthew retorted icily, "The only chicks Seth's ever fucked was his wife, that one punk chick he was seeing for two years, and that chick he fucked at that party when he was high on cocaine."

"Well, not all of us are content with sleeping with over twenty damn people," Seth replied neutrally.

If Matthew remembered correctly, things have not changed between the three of them since they were children, despite the fact that the time they had ran away from home was supposedly what brought them closer together than they were before. Despite the early Sex-Ed lesson, the rest of the time they spent camping when they were nine years old was rather ingenuous and carefree. For once, they were allowed to be young boys without the constant restraints that their parents put on them. It was just three nine year old boys in a vast forest – free to do whatever they desired.

"You remember when I drew a butt on Sasha's face with a Sharpie when he fell asleep in class? I never thought he would stop crying over that!" Matthew laughed hysterically, shoveling Doritos into his mouth between laughing fits. Lucas was laughing just as boisterously as Matthew was and Seth was chuckling quietly.

"He was called buttface for almost a week!" Lucas chortled, flashing his pearly white teeth, giggling at the juvenile prank.

Seth snorted, "Hey, what happened to Sasha? He used to be so cool, but now he's not. He's always trying to get us in trouble with the teachers and principal now and even tries to ruin our scams. I mean, he's got a thing against us or something."

"Who cares?" Lucas hissed, "Sasha is a brown-nosing, goodie two-shoed butthole anyway!" Lucas lifted up his arm and sniffed it, "Yuck! I smell like a pig! Where is the shower? I need to wash some of this sweat off."

Matthew pointed to the river, "Go ahead and take a bath. Seth and I won't look."

"If you expect me to wash myself like some kind of animal, you're crazy!" Lucas spat, tilting his nose in the air.

Matthew looked at Seth and winked subtly at Seth. Seth returned the look with smirk, knowingly. They both grinned mischievously causing Lucas to worry, "What are you looking at, you buttheads!"

Matthew and Seth rushed over to Lucas. Matthew picked up Lucas from behind, holding Lucas' sides like someone performing the Heinrich maneuver. "Quick Seth!" Matthew yelled out, laughing, "Grab his legs! Lucas is as heavy as a twig!"

Lucas thrashed around in Matthew's arms like a fussy baby. "Let me go! Let go, you jackass!" Seth tried to grab a hold of Lucas' feet, but Lucas kicked at Seth wildly. Seth was able to grab the struggling boy's feet. "C'mon guys! This is not funny!"

Matthew and Seth carried him to the river. Seth took off Lucas' socks and shoes before they started moving. Lucas continued to flail around, trying to break the grip his friends had on him. They suddenly stopped next to the river which caused Lucas to freak out, "Don't you dare! Don't even thinking about doing it!"

"Ready?" Matthew asked Seth. When Seth nodded, Matthew started counting. Both of the kids were swinging Lucas back and forth, "One, two, three!" Both Seth and Matthew let go of Lucas and watched as Lucas landed in the murky green water with a large splash as his body hit the water.

A few seconds later, Lucas' head peered out of the water, seething. "Assholes! Assholes! Assholes!" Lucas screamed as he splashed at his friends angrily as his friends started cackling at him like hyenas. "It's not funny!" Lucas pulled off his shirt and chucked it at Seth. The shirt landed on Seth's lower pant leg when Seth tried to dodge the incoming shirt. Lucas then removed his jeans and tossed at Matthew who was laughing at Seth, hitting the left side of Matthew's waist.

"Hey, you shithead!" Matthew yelled, "I'll kick your ass!"

Lucas pointed at him, "You said a couple of bad words!"

"So what, you said one a minute ago," Matthew pointed out, "Adults can't hear us, so what's the harm? As long as neither of us tattletale of each other, everything would be peachy."

Lucas just nodded and begun washing himself in the river water, using his hand to lather up his body with water. Lucas was still in his underwear. Seth yawned, exhausted from the long hike into the campsite. He turned to Matthew, "So I guess we are going to be living free with no rules?"

"Pretty much," Matthew nodded, "We can do what we want, eat what we want, say what we want, and sleep when we want without our asshole parents. Like Lucas can have sweets with us without his dad breathing down his neck."

"What about the diabetes thing?" Seth asked, "I'm pretty sure he still can't have sugar even if our parents aren't around."

"Do you even know what diabetes is?" Matthew asked.

Seth shrugged, "No, I have no idea what it is. Just that Lucas can't eat sugar or noodles."

"Doesn't that sound like something parents would say just to bug us?" Matthew asked, "Just like the Santa Claus thing, his dad is probably just saying that to prevent Lucas from getting the good food like cookies, candy bars, and snack cakes."

"There are commercials about diabetes," Seth argued.

"There are commercials on Santa Claus too," Matthew countered, "Adults do a damn good at trying to scare us into behaving. Why don't we see what happens when Lucas has sugar." Seth was about to protest, but Matthew quickly hushed him, "what happens when you eat nuts?"

"I break out in hives and have trouble breathing," Seth answered, unsure of where Matthew was getting at with the question.

"-And I vomit whenever I eat milk or cheese." Matthew added. "Has Lucas ever mentioned what happens when he eats sugar?"

"No," Seth replied, "His dad watches what he eats like a hawk and Lucas never ate any of that stuff for as long as I known him."

"Then it's fake," Matthew concluded, "-and I'm about to proof it once Lucas gets out of the river."

Once Lucas finished bathing, Matthew approached him with a Hershey bar in hand, "hey, Lucas. You want one?"

"No thanks," Lucas replied, sitting on the log near the to-be fire to dry off, "you know I can't have sugar."

Matthew questioned him, "Has your dad even told you what happens when you eat sugar?"

"Not really," Lucas replied, "Except for the reason that I heal slowly is due to the diabetes. He told me that my mom had diabetes like I do and she died from a diabetic shock when I was five. I barely remember her."

"No use wondering what would happen unless you try it," Matthew persisted, much to Seth's dismay, "Am I right?"

Seth watched with bated breath as Lucas was given the chocolate bar. Neither Seth nor Matthew knew what's going to happen. There was a chance that Matthew could be right about the whole diabetic thing. Chocolate was a forbidden fruit to Lucas and now the boy was eating the candy without a second thought. What are friends for!

Needless to say, Lucas enjoyed the candy bar like an exquisite dinner – and the candy bar after that – and the candy bar after that. Matthew lost count on how many candy bars Lucas consumed by the time nightfall came around. Lucas took a long nap after eating a bunch of chocolate. Afterward, the boy woke up to gulp down a bunch of the drinks they had brought with them. Lucas also went behind the bush to pee every half hour or so. Matthew snorted; it served Lucas right for drinking up the soda they had brought.

After a while, Matthew got the fire going with lighter fluid and a match. Seth and Lucas also set the tent up and set up their sleeping pallets. The boys huddled near the fire for warmth from the night air. The warm orange glow created some light within the dark campsite. The smell of smoke clung to Matthew's body to the point where he smelled just like the smoke coming off of the fire.

"I think it's a perfect night to tell scary stories," Matthew announced, munching on potato chips.

Seth nodded, "I agree. It's dark and kind of spooky in the woods at night."

"I've seen scary stories on TV," Lucas announced, "I wonder if the stories you two tell are better than the ones on TV."

"Just watch us and you will get the hang of it," Seth replied, "there's actually been something quite strange within Peach Creek that has me wondering. There's a specific house in Peach Creek that my mom told me to stay away from. It's a grey house off of Main Street. My mom told me that a bad person lives there."

"A house? Yeah right!" Matthew scoffed, "Who's afraid of some stupid house if it ain't haunted! I could think of a better scary scenario in my sleep!"

"It's true!" Lucas chimed in, "It's a dark grey house on Blood Point. The address is 13 Blood Point. The person who lives there drives an old white van with tinted windows. Nobody has seen the man that lives there though. My dad told me to stay away from that house as well. Why do you think our parents tell us to say away from him?"

Seth grinned mischievously, "I heard the man is an evil toymaker who makes children into dolls. He would snatch up the children who wander around his yard. Once they are inside of his house, he begins to cut children open like a deer to get all of their blood and guts out. After that, he sews the children back up to add to his collection."

Lucas screamed in terror, but Matthew sat there unamused by the story. "You call that a scary story?" Matthew asked, haughtily, "Let me show you how it's done!" If Matthew could not beat them, he would join them. "The man's mom and dad probably were Bloody Mary and the Booeyman! The man was so ugly when he was born that the doctor attempted to make him less ugly by carving his face from ear to ear. After he grew up, he became a deranged clown who hated kids for having normal faces," Matthew stopped for a moment and noticed Seth gulping and waiting with anticipation of what was going to happen next. Lucas was already fidgeting, waiting for Matthew to continue.

Matthew grinned and continued, "Anyway, if you go near that house, the man would drag you inside by your feet. Once you're in, he would want to play his favorite game called `Stitches.' It's where he cuts you from ear to ear, giving you the same look he has. He would also cut your arms straight across and your legs too. While you are dying in a pool of your own blood, he would stitch you back up to torture you some more. He would continue to play Stitches until all of your blood is drained out, which he would use to put in his coffee." Matthew added with a near whisper, "They say that he also walks around the woods at night looking for children who are camping out in the woods." Matthew eyes went wide and he pointed towards the woods, "Oh my God! Guys, we need to get out now! He's watching us right now!"

"What?" Lucas and Seth both screamed as they panicked and stumbled over each other to get away from whatever was in the forest. When they turned around, they saw nothing in the direction that Matthew was pointing. Matthew laughed as hard as he could. He got those two good! He tried to stop himself from laughing so hard, but couldn't hold it in.

Lucas and Seth both scowled at him. "That wasn't funny, you jackass!" Seth complained, "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

After the fire went out, they went into the tent to rest for the night. Matthew was the only one who found it hard to sleep. It was not clowns with Glasgow smiles or evil toymakers that kept him up. Oh no, it was his friends that kept him up. Lucas was holding a stuffed mouse and dug his feet into the small of Matthew's back while he slept. On the other side of him was Seth tossing and turning in his sleep and sucking his thumb. It was going to be a long, sleepless night for him.


	8. Roy Lovering

Seth was almost done with the tattoo; the outline for the snake tattoo was already stunning. While working on Matthew's tattoo, Seth asked the same question that he had been asking for about eleven years or so: He asked if he could have his uncle's hat back. Matthew scoffed at the nerve of Seth to ask such a preposterous question.

"You can have the hat back if I stab you in the jugular vein with that tattoo gun you're holding," Matthew snarled, venomously.

Seth flinched and continued to work on the tattoo, wordlessly. Matthew honestly did not know why Seth wanted the hat. Seth had possession of his uncle's dog tags from Vietnam and Roy's Purple Heart medal. Matthew would kill Seth before Seth takes the hat away from him.

He recounted the first time he met Seth's uncle Roy. It was on the third and final day that Seth, Lucas, and he had ran away from home. Lucas was still consuming a lot of fluids and using the bathroom more frequently than usual. Their days in the woods were pretty typical. They would consume their weight in junk food, gather up sticks for the fire, and play in the river.

Between a few of Lucas' frequent nap breaks, Lucas would force Seth and Matthew to take lessons on what Matthew at the time referred to "adult words." Basically, Lucas was trying to teach Matthew and Seth to learn how to speak past a grade school level. Since they were out on their own, living as pseudo-adults, they needed to learn how to pronounce and understand certain words – or that was the plan anyway. Equipped with one of his dad's thesauruses, Lucas attempted to teach them, despite the jeers that he received from his fellow campmates.

Matthew was poking Lucas with a stick while he was attempting to teach them synonyms for the word large while Seth was gathering kindle for the night. Lucas swiped at the stick was one hand and tried to continue the lesson. Matthew cackled and kept doing it. "Stop it, you annoying buttface! I'm attempting to teach you and you're being a nuance!" Lucas squealed and shielded himself with the thesaurus.

"-But you're boring me to death! The lesson is so tedious." Matthew complained, smirking at Lucas.

"At least you're learning new words from it," Lucas retorted, shaking his tiny fists in the air.

Matthew swung the stick like a sword and hit Lucas in the leg. Lucas yelped and ran away from the stick, occasionally getting whacked in the backside. Matthew laughed like a jester and chased Lucas around the campsite with the stick in hand. Lucas slowed down after a while and yawned and then stopped. Matthew slowed down to a complete stop and sighed, "Geez, you're tired again? What the heck is wrong with you?"

Lucas shrugged weakly, "I don't know. I never had been this sleepy before." Matthew nodded wordlessly, not knowing what the heck was wrong with Lucas. Seth dropped the pile of sticks and rushed over to them. Lucas looked from Seth to Matthew and rubbing his own arm nervously. He then went to one of the bags he brought and took out a small plastic instrument with a needle sticking out. He cocked back a button on the plastic object and pressed the needle to his finger. Seth and Matthew watched with morbid curiosity as Lucas pressed the button which caused the plastic thing to prick Lucas' finger like the spindle that pricked Sleeping Beauty.

A small amount of blood formed from the small puncture. Lucas quickly grabbed a small pocket-sized machine and a medical strip and put the plastic poker back, careful to not lose the drop of blood on his face. Lucas quickly slid the medical strip into the machine and waited for the machine to beep quietly. Lucas gently pressed the medical strip to his finger and the strip sucked out the tiny bit of blood like a mechanical vampire.

Lucas waited a few seconds for the machine to beep again. When it did, Lucas examined the reading pensively. Matthew noticed that Lucas' face paled when he read the reading. He dropped the machine onto the ground and curled into a ball. His reading was 250. Seth finally spoke up, "What's wrong, Lucas?"

"My reading," Lucas bawled, "It's twice than it normally should be! That's never happened to me before."

"I'm sure you're fine, so quit being a baby," Matthew scolded. Lucas seemed fine to him, despite the exhaustion, frequent urination, and thirst that Lucas had displayed during the last few days. However he did not have time to react, because he heard a deep masculine voice calling out in the distance. What the voice said was indistinguishable, but it had gotten the attention of the boys.

"What the hell was that?" Matthew asked. Lucas shrugged his shoulders and Seth paid close attention to the voice.

The voice got louder and clearer as minutes went by. They eventually heard what the voice was saying, "Seth! Boy! Where in the hell are you, boy? Did Charlie find you? I'll blast their asses with my rifle if they laid one hand on you. Yes sir, I will!"

"Uncle Roy?" Seth called out.

Matthew groaned, "Thanks a lot, Seth! We're so fucking busted." He did not look forward to going back home to get grounded from his father. He would not have run away from home if his parents did not ignore him for Eddy. So much for the ideal of living the rest of his life in the wilderness, free from parental control!

"It's better than having him shooting at you two blindly, thinking that you're Charlie," Seth hissed in a stage whisper and then added softly. "The war messed his head up pretty badly."

"Who's Charlie?" Lucas asked, curiously.

"He was in a war? That's awesome!" Matthew exclaimed, enthusiastically, "I bet he got to shoot lots of things and kicked the butts of anything that stood in his way! I bet he's like a real life GI Joe or something like that." He had not met Seth's Uncle Roy yet, but Matthew was already eager to meet the man.

"Seth?" Roy called out, "who's there with you?"

"Shut up, guys!" Seth hushed and raised his voice in a near yell to answer his uncle, "It's just my friends, Uncle Roy."

"Your mom and I have been looking for you for three days. A couple named Carl and Margaret are also looking for their son as well. A diabetic kid went missing too. Last I heard." Roy replied, "Why the hell are you and your friends in these woods by yourselves, anyway?"

"We went camping, Uncle Roy," Seth lied, "We wanted to go camping together where it was just the three of us."

"Well, you and your friends should've told someone where you were," Roy replied, entering their campground, "Somethin' could've happened to you and I wouldn't even know where to look for your scrawny hide."

That was the first time Matthew ever seen Roy in person. The man looked to be about his parent's age, maybe a little older. The man had to have been in his early thirties, judging by the man's looks. Matthew later found out that the man was thirty three when he had first met him. The man was pretty tall, even taller than Seth and Matthew were when they had grown up years later. His face was worn and weary and though his eyes seem to match that of the stereotypical mentally ill individual, Roy's eyes also have a kind of warmth to them. The man's hair had the same dark brown hue as Seth's, but the man's hair reached the back of his neck and was kind of greasy.

The man's outfit was also pretty interesting to the nine year old. Roy wore a white tee shirt with torn sleeves, hunter's camouflage pants, and hiking boots. The man also wore a dark brown flat cap on the top of his head and dog tags around his neck. The man was also carrying a hunting rifle in the holster on his back.

"I'm fine, Uncle Roy," Seth huffed.

"Well, get your stuff and hurry up. I left the truck running so I would not have to go through hell and back just to get the piece of shit running again. You know as well as I do, that damn thing makes a better two ton lawn ornament than it does a truck." Roy took a swig of clear, alcohol smelling liquid in a jar. "If you're not in the old parking lot in ten minutes, you know that I'll just track you down again like an old hunting dog. You know your way through these woods. I taught you the layout of this dang place plenty of times."

"Yes, sir," Seth replied meekly. Seth waited until his uncle was out of earshot to apologize, "I'm sorry about my uncle, guys. He can be a bit-"

"Awesome," Matthew exclaimed as starry-eyed as a kid who first visited Disney World.

"Yeah," Seth gave a small unsure smile and started gathering their belongings. It was pleasant to see Seth's face not as covered with bruises as it usually was. It made Seth look quite normal for once in the year that Matthew had known him.

Once they got all of their stuff picked up, Seth led them towards the parking lot. An old brown truck that was covered in rust stood in the middle of the parking lot with Roy sipping on more of the clear liquid in the jar. The truck looked like it was ready for a place in the junkyard, but by some miracle, it still was able to run.

"Get out of the way," Matthew pushed past his friends, "I get to sit with the war hero!" Lucas and Seth almost stumbled and Matthew gave them a look, silently telling them to hurry up as he loaded the back of the truck with his stuff.

Matthew hurried into the truck and sat right next to Roy watching the man consume beans from a can using a plastic spoon. Matthew watched him attentively, hoping that some of the man's heroic attributes would rub off on him. The man glanced at Matthew and muttered, "Hey kid! How are you doing?"

"Hi, my name is Matthew!" Matthew blurted out, nervously.

Roy sat his beans can down in the cup holster and wiped a clean napkin over his clean shaven face. Matthew later found out that one of the very few routines Roy had was shaving his face twice a day with an old fashioned shaver. "Hey kid. I'm Seth's mother's brother, Roy Lovering. Your parents are looking for you, you know."

"I know," Matthew answered affirmatively, "why is your last name Lovering if you are Seth's mother's brother?"

"My piece of shit brother-in-law changed his name when he married my sister," Roy stated, bitterly, "that man does not deserve the wife or the child he has! My sister and Seth are too good for that no-good son of a gun!"

Matthew silently agreed with Roy. Matthew wished he was a little older so that he could feed Seth's dad to a pack of hungry wolves, but he was still only a child. "So you were a war hero?" Matthew asked curiously.

"If you mean a war veteran, yes I am," Roy nodded, tiredly, "I served my country in the Vietnam War and earned the Purple Heart." Roy reached over to open his glove box and grabbed the heart-shaped purple and gold medal out. Matthew stared in amazement at it. On the back of the medal were the words `FOR MILITARY MERIT.' "I got it from being wounded in Vietnam by the enemy, so my commanding officer told me. I don't remember it, but I remember waking up in the infirmary a week after it happened with stitches in my head from a bullet wound."

"You're so cool!" Matthew complimented, trying to control himself. It would not be good if he rhapsodized about brave and heroic Roy was to his face. Roy would have probably thought he was a complete spaz and that would have been disastrous.

"Thanks kid," Roy said. Before Matthew could ask Roy anymore questions, Seth and Lucas loaded up the truck and got inside. Seth sat next to Matthew and Lucas sat next to Seth. Matthew wondered if Lucas was still worried about the reading Lucas got earlier when he pricked his finger. The old truck started up loudly and they were on their way to Matthew's house, according to what Roy told them after they all were in the car.


	9. Bad Seed

After the tattoo was done, Matthew chatted with Seth and Lucas for about a half an hour before they both had to leave to return to their own lives outside of the prison. His tattoo was bandaged up by Seth and Matthew was instructed to leave the bandage on for two hours. Further instructions included taking a shower using Dove body soap. Matthew sneered; Dove soap is what he already had to wash himself with at the prison. He also had to pat the tattoo dry with a paper towel after he was done in the shower. He was also instructed not to pick at the tattoo. It was like Seth was treating him like a child or was acting like Matthew's own mother. Speaking of his mother, he started to remember day that Roy returned all three of them to Matthew's parents.

"You're going to be fine, dear," Eddy's mother replied to nine year old Lucas who sat in the McGee's uncomfortable couch. "Just drink plenty of water and go play with your friends. You'll be just fine. Also, cut down on the sweets. Having a treat once in a while would not hurt you, but don't make a habit out of it. Also, you have to remember to take your insulin and medicine regularly. That could have been why it was so high along with the sweets. You're a big boy now, Lucas. You shouldn't have to be told when to take your medicine."

"Yes ma'am," Lucas replied.

"No more surprise camp trips from any of you, especially you, Matthew," Margaret addressed the two boys that were standing behind her. Matthew was holding onto Eddy while Seth was quietly standing still, watching both Margaret and Lucas. "You three could have been kidnapped! You could have been killed! I was worried sick about you, Matthew! I called the cops as soon as you disappeared! Don't do that to me again, Matthew! Do you understand?"

"I guess, Mom," Matthew grumbled.

"Now run off and play," Margaret waved them off, taking Eddy from Matthew's arms, "I have to make a call to inform the police department that you and your friends are alright. I'm sure their parents are very worried about them."

"-Or having a party," Matthew interjected sarcastically.

Margaret blinked rapidly, "excuse me?"

"Nothing," Matthew sighed and rushed off to catch up with Lucas and Seth.

"Okay, I will be a reaper and you would be a warlock. Matthew would probably be a demon, most likely," Seth explained to Lucas.

Matthew chimed in, "Jesus, you guys are lame! Do you two need me to hold your hands and show you how to be cool cats?"

"We were about to play creatures," Lucas whined, "You nag worst than the chicks at school. I'm going to start calling you Mattie for now on."

"What did you call me," Matthew whispered threateningly as he grabbed the collar of Lucas' shirt. He threw Lucas to the ground like a rag doll and sat on him.

Seth chimed in, "Well, Mattie does have a bigger set of jugs than most of the girls we go to school with."

"You want to be next, Seth?" Matthew shouted, "Don't call me that."

Seth remained quiet until Matthew grabbed Lucas' ankle and starting twisting it, "Say uncle, Lucas! C'mon I can't hear you!"

"Uncle! Uncle!" Lucas screamed out, trying to crawl away from the weight Matthew had on his legs. Struggling did not do Lucas much good. Matthew kept twisting, taking his anger out on Lucas' ankle. Lucas needed to be reminded of his place in the scheme of things. Matthew viewed it no differently as a parent punishing a child.

"Stop it, Matthew! Stop hurting Lucas," Seth yelled out as he puffed out his chest to appear intimidating to Matthew, "Lucas and I may not be able to beat you up by ourselves, but together, we can make you cry to your mama!"

As soon as Matthew released Lucas, the scrawny boy scrambled towards Seth, taking refuge behind the other boy. Matthew walked towards Seth and leaned close to Seth's face, "why do you have to be so serious? I was only messing with you two. Chill out! If you two realize your places as my minions, nothing bad would happen to you two. Now, I'll find a better game to play other than that dumb creatures game."

Matthew patted the shocked boy on the cheek and walked inside, growling when he heard Seth retort, "Whatever you say, Mattie!"

Matthew saw his mother hang up the phone in the kitchen and went into the closet to see what was going to happen. He feared punishment from the police for disappearing to the forest for a few days. Margaret turned to Carl, "well, the police are going to come and talk with the boys about sneaking out of the house and having unsupervised camping trips."

"What about the two boys that went with Matthew? Are their parents coming to get them?" Carl asked.

"The father of one of the boys is on a business trip and won't be back for a few days," Margaret answered. Matthew knew that Margaret was talking about Lucas' father.

"Christ, he couldn't have postponed it until his kid was actually found?" Carl exclaimed gruffly, taking a couple of puffs from the lit cigar between his fingers. "I'll never understand rich people. I mean his kid is a diabetic for Christ's sake and he's more worried about his damn career. I'm employed too and I still took a few days off to find my damn kid. What about the other one's kid? I know that it would be foolish to leave the kid in his uncle's care due to the uncle's mental condition, the one that we talked with at the door, but what about his parents? I mean the kid's mother was looking for him."

"There's no answer at his house when I tried to call over there before I checked on the diabetic boy. I believe the diabetic boy's name is Lucas. I also think the other boy's name is Seth. I'll have to ask later. We'll watch over them until their parents pick them up."

"What are we going to do about our own boy?" Carl asked.

"What do you mean?" Margaret asked.

"Think about it, Margaret. Matthew took off without informing each of us." Carl rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I think he purposely ran away from home."

Margaret frowned, "Don't be ridiculous. Matthew is just a boy, not some angry teenager. I think he wanted to spend some time with his friends. I do believe we should scold him for it, but heaven forbid, I don't believe that we should overreact to a childhood mishap. Maybe the police visit would prove to the boys that what they did was wrong."

"I think we're raising a bad seed, Margaret," Carl spoke sternly. "He's been acting up quite a bit lately. I mean we got calls from the school every other day over him barely passing any of his subjects in school or causing mischief. Every time I try to correct him anymore, it doesn't seem to faze him. It's like I'm talking to a brick wall." Carl took a deep breath, staring glumly at his cigar. "I don't even know where I have gone wrong with him."

"Honey," Margaret rushed over to console her husband by wrapping her big arms around him, "you're just exhausted. We both are. Look, I'm going to take a part-time job to help out with expenses. It's not fair to you if I don't help make ends meet."

"What about Eddy? We can't afford to take Eddy to daycare let alone hire a babysitter. Who's going to watch Eddy?" Carl asked, peering up at his wife.

"We'll have Matthew watch Eddy for a couple of hours in the afternoon and afterschool when he starts school again." Margaret answered. "He's nine years old. He's legally old enough to babysit Eddy for a few hours until I get home."

"Are you crazy, woman?" Carl cried out, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Matthew is not responsible to care for a child! I don't give a damn what the law says!"

"We don't have much choice. Aurora and her husband have their hands full with their own kid and Dad's mind is too far gone to care for Eddy." Margaret stated, "It would be a good learning experience for Matthew. You can take an hour lunch break in the afternoon when I go to work to watch Eddy and see that Matthew gets off of the bus. Then I'll get off of work at six to fix the boys dinner. There are plenty of places in Peach Creek that are looking for part-time work and I'm sure that we can do this, Carl."

"I hope so," Carl replied.

In the closet, Matthew was fuming. Not only did his dad call him a "bad seed," but his parents also expected him to waste a good chunk of his afternoon taking care of his baby brother? He needed to get out of there. If not, he would throw himself to the floor, kicking his feet and screaming how unfair everything was.

He bolted out of the closet and rushed in a random direction. His only destination was to go outside to Lucas and Seth. He ended up in the last place he wanted to be; Eddy's nursery. Eddy babbled happily in his playpen, banging the buttons on a toy register. The empty toy register opened and Eddy babbled again in a disappointed tone at the empty register.

Eddy noticed Matthew glaring at him and rushed over to the side of playpen as fast as his little legs could take him. Eddy leaned against the mesh barrier and held his chubby arms out at his brother, not realizing the foul mood his older brother was in. Matthew glared at his brother furiously, his eyes were mere slits that barely shown the rage boiling in those black abysses.

"I hate you," Matthew snarled quietly in the dark part of the room. The only sunshine that came was from one of the windows that shone a bright light where Eddy was like a natural spotlight on the little tyke. Eddy grimaced at the tone Matthew used, but was not deterred to receive affection from his brother. He waved his little arms and whined at Matthew. "I said I hate you!" Matthew shouted, stomping towards the playpen as Eddy's eyes started to water up. "Stop crying, you little brat! I'll hit you if you don't!"

Eddy wailed at the sound of his brother's shouts, which unintentionally provoked Matthew's rage. Matthew raised his hand and swung it across Eddy's face. The impact of the slap caused Eddy to land on the soft interior of the playpen, his head landing on a plush bird. Eddy wailed even louder, hurting Matthew's eardrums.

Matthew quickly exited out of the room through the door. Eddy's wails were muffled once he shut the door. Lucas and Seth stared at him in wonder. Matthew quickly remembered that he was supposed to bring out one of his squirt guns to spray his two unruly friends. Matthew just shrugged and took off his shirt to cool his body down. He was feeling really sweaty and uncomfortable.

"Is that a zit on you?" Seth asked.

"A what?" Matthew looked down and spotted a small bulbous white speck on his chest that was the same size as a pen mark. "What the heck is that?"

"It's only a zit, dude," Seth stated. "You get them when you start puberty." Seth then quickly added, "When your body starts to become more adult. Though I heard of older kids going through this, I have not heard of a nine year old going through it."

"Looks like I'm more mature than you two," Matthew boasted.

"Your body at least," Seth grumbled, "I'm not so sure about your brain."

Then Lucas chimed in, pushing Matthew's arms down, "put your arms down, Mattie! You smell like the gym my dad goes to."

"Shut up, Lucas!" Matthew yelled, "All three of us haven't had an actual bath since we went into the woods."

"But my armpits don't smell like yours!" Lucas replied, holding his nose.

"It's another sign of his body becoming more mature," Seth stated, "All Mattie needs is a good shower and deodorant." Seth noticed Eddy's cries, "We should check on your brother, Mattie. He might need his diaper changed or something."

Matthew huffed at Seth's suggestion, but followed Lucas and Seth inside anyway. The door to adulthood certainly opened that day. He quickly realized how much he hated his younger brother and his father, but never fully revealed it until later. The changes in his body were set into motion as well. He was an early bloomer and it may have had a major impact on Matthew's psyche at least as far as aggression goes. This is if the quack prison psychologist that visits him every once in a while is to be believed.


	10. Three Kids and a Baby

It was time for Matthew to take off the bandage. Matthew peeled off the bandage very carefully to not ruin the best thing that came out of allowing Seth to torture him for several hours. The whole area around his tattoo was bright red. Despite that, Matthew could see every little detail put into the outline. That is going to be one hell of a tattoo once Seth colors it in for his birthday. Matthew could already assume the tattoo's artistic merit based upon the outline and how much effort Seth usually puts into coloring tattoos.

He could just imagine the face on his princess's face when he gets out of jail and shows off his tattoo. He would not completely delude himself to believe his little princess would be outwardly ecstatic over the tattoo, but he was sure he would hear the appreciation from the younger in his moans and whimpers. Fuck, he was starting to get himself worked up again.

Just getting a new tattoo was enough for Matthew's head to go completely into the gutter with sexual fantasies brought on by sexual frustration. Matthew probably thought about sex twice as much as the average man. Even getting a nice new shirt would have Matthew fantasizing about his current fixation tearing at it with an intense, animalistic fervor, begging to be penetrated by his sizable cock.

Sex played a huge role in his life. It also brought him momentary relief, a chance for him to lower his defenses and relax in the peaceful calm of post-orgasmic bliss. There was only one tryst that he hated, but he could not even consider that a tryst since he never consented to the act. Other than that tragic event, there was never a cunt or an asshole that he did not love. Hell, there were some that he loved more than others. The proof of that were the three kids he had and the current ache in his loins over thinking about his little princess. He even loved the sex between him and Sasha and he hated Sasha with every single fiber of his being.

_`You're such a dirty little slut, aren't you boy?' _A sickly sweet voice from the past whispered into his mind_, "You would accept any kind of sexual attention just so you can feel wanted. Well, I'm going to fuck the whore straight out of you and make you into my perfect little housewife."_

"Shut the fuck up you piece of shit!" Matthew shouted and hit the concrete wall with his fist. Pain ebbed from his knuckles as a crimson steam flowed from the wound. He thought of Roy's kind face to help him calm down. A couple of guards were startled by the sudden noise.

One of them, a young new prison guard that was fresh out of college, tapped the window on the door with his nightstick. A pair of headphones from the 20 year old guard's walkman hung from the back of his neck like the world's ugliest necklace. "What's going on here, McGee?"

"Nothing," Matthew faked a pleasant smile, "I just accidently hit my hand against the wall is all."

"Do you need to be escorted to the prison nurse?" The young guard asked.

"No, I'll be fine." Matthew assured him. When the young guard turned to check on other inmates, Matthew muttered under his breath, "Fucking jackass." He could still hear the guard's irritating rap music obliterating the silence with its constant pounding.

Matthew breathed a sigh of relief when he could no longer hear that irritating racket. He looked at his hand again and seen his hand had stopped bleeding. He imagined his little princess licking his hand sensually, cleaning up the blood. His cock stirred at the thought. The antidepressants were finally granting him some relief.

He pulled down the orange pants of his prison uniform to release his throbbing member. He spit into his hand and got to work. His erection arose from the slow even strokes. Beads of precum formed from the slit and Matthew spread it across the head of his shaft with his thumb. His pubic hair scrapped his hand as he continued to stroke himself. His pubic area has not had a decent shave ever since he was first locked up. It's not like he was ever going to fuck anyone in prison anyway. Even if he wasn't in solitary confinement, he would rather not risk a chance getting HIV, STDs, or scabies. He watched himself in the mirror on the wall as he pleasured himself, imagining that Edd was the one jacking him off.

His imagination took over as he continued his maneuvers. He imagined Edd shyly jerking him off, entranced by the sight of the convict's cock. His erection was right underneath Edd's chin, leaking precum as Edd leaned forward in front of it. The imagined servile attitude of the young man was fueling the fire within Matthew. He imagined that Edd took a teasing lick across the head to get a small taste Matthew's essence.

Matthew was almost at his peak after 15 minutes of getting himself off. He then imagined that his dick was close to Edd's face as he was reaching his peak. He was ready to paint Edd's face with the pearly white beads of liquid coming out of his dick. A couple of well-maneuvered tugs later, and Matthew came undone. His back was arched in an uncomfortable position from his orgasm, but Matthew hardly noticed. He felt content after finally being able to take care of his sexual needs, no thanks to the pills that the damned prison psychologist put him on. He wiped the cum from his hand against the thin mattress and laid there, listening as his heartbeat was slowly returning to a normal rhythm.

It was just in time too. He heard the sound of the young guard's music returning. He groaned and covered his ears, kicking the wall once as he voiced his disapproval of the music the young guard listened to. Even when rap first was starting to get popular in the late 1980s, he still found the music to be a waste of time and resources. Speaking of music, he remembered an argument he had with Seth and Lucas the very same day that he found out that his parents wanted him to take on some of the responsibilities of watching Eddy.

"So what kind of music do you guys listen to?" Matthew asked.

"I listen to New Order and Duran Duran." Lucas replied.

Seth answered Matthew right after Lucas, "I listen to The Cure and David Bowie."

"God, you two are lame!" Matthew groaned, overdramatically "Haven't you two ever heard of Billy Idol or Bon Jovi?" When he seen the blank looks on their faces, he groaned again, "Alice Cooper? Twisted Sister? Seriously, you guys don't listen to any hair metal either?"

Lucas shook his head and Seth replied, "No, I haven't."

"You guys are lame!" Matthew replied, shaking his head.

"Speaking of music, I heard that Sasha attended a Nana Mouskouri concert with a chick and his dad," Lucas gossiped. All three of them were in Eddy's room, talking over the crying infant. Lucas, the naïve child, had no idea of the reason why Eddy cried or the reason why part of Eddy's face was red. Lucas assumed aloud that Eddy fell and hit his cheek.

However it seemed that Seth was more suspicious of Matthew than Lucas was. Seth shot him a glare; his eyes were filled with reasonable suspicion. Matthew glowered at Seth in response and watched as Seth lowered his head in defeat like an animal that had just submitted to more dangerous one. Matthew smirked and watched as his baby brother kicked Lucas repeatedly in the face.

"Hey, I was only trying to hold you, you little brat!" Lucas exclaimed as he was kicked again. Lucas pinched the crying baby's cheeks hard and kneaded the baby's cheeks, which only enraged Eddy further. "Man, this baby has a pair of lungs on it!"

"No kidding. I have to deal with that screaming on a daily basis," Matthew complained, his interest was piqued at the sound of Sasha going to a concert with a girl, "How does a butthole like Sasha get a chick to agree to go to a concert with him? He sits at the loser table with us!"

"The chick just moved here from what I heard," Lucas replied. "Still though, how does a butthole like that end up being the first one from the loser's table to get a girlfriend?"

"Face it, dude; He's probably the closest thing to normal within our table," Seth explained, "no girl is going to want to date the school fatso, a guy who wears a mask all of the time, or a psycho who cut up the class hamster. It's fine though. The girls at our school can date whoever they want to. " Seth suddenly had a devious look on his face and starting tickling Eddy's feet. Eddy squirmed and put his arms out, trying to bat away Lucas and Seth.

"Oh boys, the police officer's here!" Margaret announced from the doorway, "You should head to the front door to meet up with him. I don't think little Eddy is in the mood to be played with right now." She hurried towards Eddy and picked him, cooing softly into Eddy's ear, trying to get the child to calm down. Margaret also had no idea what had occurred between him and Eddy. Even if Lucas did not pinch at Eddy's cheeks like an overly affectionate grandmother, Matthew could have just blamed the red mark upon Eddy's face on a fall, like he had done numerous times after the incident for the various injuries that he had inflicted upon his younger brother. His parents were none the wiser.

Margaret also added cheerfully, "Also, your clothes are now in the dryer. I want to get a picture of you three to put on the fridge after the cops leave."

"Yes mom," Matthew replied. The visit with the police officer went as expectedly. The police officer warned the boys of the dangers of taking unexpected camping trips and explained that their three-day disappearance had everyone involved worried over the possibility that the three of them were kidnapped. There was no evidence of their true intent to run away from their homes. The police had no reason to expect it, so they were left off with a stern warning.

After the cop left, their clothes were washed. Matthew's yellow jersey and jeans were cleaned to perfection. Seth's camouflage pants, white tee shirt, and old army jacket looked better than they ever did. Lucas grayish blue polo and designer jeans looked as new as they always did. His mom had a talent of taking care of clothes. There was even a whole closet in their house full of clothes that came with the house that his mother had taken care of. They quickly got changed and rushed outside to pose for the camera. Four pictures were taken, one for each of the boys and one for Matthew's parents.

Nightfall quickly approached and the boys were introduced to Matthew's room for the first time. He showed them the old blue taxidermy camel that stood by the wall. He showed them his foldout bed was hidden in a red refrigerator, the heater, his box of toys, an eight ball, the window viewing out to the backyard and an old heat vent. Both Lucas and Seth viewed the room as strange for various reasons. Seth believed that the room needed to have more of an artistic vibe to the room. Lucas just viewed the room as too eccentric. What do they know about good tastes?

While Lucas and Seth were using the phone to try to contact their parents, Matthew went digging through Seth's belongings and stole the porn magazine from the bag. He quickly hid the magazine in his closet, not feeling a bit of remorse for his behavior. Afterward the three had dinner and gotten showers. That night was also the first time he had seen his friends completely naked when they were trying on his old pajamas to find one that fit, which they were able to find after some digging. He can honestly say that he was not the least bit embarrassed to see them without any clothes on than he was when he peeked in on Sasha. He did not understand his reactions in the least.

Once all three of them were dressed, Lucas was looking through the horoscope section in the newspaper. Matthew and Seth quickly found out their star signs from reading their horoscopes. Matthew is a Gemini, Lucas is a Scorpio, and Seth is an Aquarius. Lucas had a strange fascination with horoscopes that neither he nor Seth fully understood. Lucas claimed that star signs influenced a person's personality, but Matthew thought that Lucas was full of it, but considered using horoscopes for a future scam anyway.

All three of them eventually lay down upon Matthew's bed and tried to sleep. When Matthew was trying to get some sleep, Seth whispered to him, "Hey, Mattie. You should try to teach Eddy how to scam people. I think it would be good for you."

Matthew snorted, "Yeah right! The only thing Pipsqueak is going to do is poop in his diaper, cry, and drive away business!"

"I mean when he gets older," Seth replied, "He's not going to be a crying baby forever."

"I'll think about it," Matthew grumbled as he shut his eyes.


	11. Misty Holliston

A couple of days after Matthew had gotten a tattoo, he received letters and Christmas cards from his three children. He even received a phone call from his oldest, Bonnie, who yakked his ear off. Most of her conversation was on a scam which involved selling her male classmates toy cars, matchbox cars to be exact that she made with cheap supplies. Then the mostly one-sided conversation quickly turned towards the subject of a boy Bonnie fancied at her elementary school. Not exactly a topic he really wanted to hear about.

He could really care less how his daughters grew up in regards to relationships with the opposite sex. They could end up on a trashy talk show at the age of sixteen, demanding that ten men to take a paternity test and Matthew would just shrug it off. He was no saint. He slept his way through Peach Creek before he got thrown out of the house. The only problem was that he really did not want to hear about it.

He had plenty of fixations since he was a child. He used the term fixation, because there was no other word to accurately describe how he felt about certain particular people. He would not use the terms "boyfriend" or "girlfriend," because that would imply that he would obliged to romantic feelings for the other individual, which none existed. He didn't like the term "casual fling" either, because that would imply that he would not give a shit if the person slept around with other people while they were fucking him. He's much too jealous to let someone move onto what was rightfully his.

Fixation was the perfect analogy of how he felt for people like Edd well. He first came up with the term back when he was only fourteen and watched Seth go through heroin withdraws. Seth described the emotional aspect of his addiction as something he would go through great lengths to achieve a moment of tranquility which only left him wanting more after he lost his high. While Matthew drank alcohol like it was going out of style, the only thing he could compare it to would be his sex life. He would do anything to get inside of his fixations and would want more after that. His fixation now was his princess, back when he was only ten years old, it was _her_.

Darcy was one narrow-minded son of a bitch in a lot of ways. Anything that did not fit his elitist WASP view of world were harassed and ridiculed. The loser's table was a frequent target, especially Lucas who was part-Russian. While Lucas got harassed by Darcy for Lucas playing surgeon with the class hamster to Lucas' understandable fear of sugary sweets to Lucas' participation in Matthew's scams; None of that compared to Lucas having a Russian grandmother.

Lucas explained that Darcy was a young mouthpiece to his father's ethnocentric ideals and bitter resentment. Lucas' father, a British immigrant, got promoted for a position at work over Darcy's father, who is the heir of some old family who moved to Peach Creek during the 1950s. It was not uncommon to hear the words "mutt" or "commie" uttered from that smarmy bastard. Matthew's favorite had to be "the working class rogue's well-groomed and ill-trained dog" which Darcy spouted in regards to Lucas being Matthew's lackey.

One event in particular caused Matthew to create the El Mongo Stink Bomb in Darcy's honor. When Seth and Matthew had to spend half of their school day in-school suspension to catch up on their grades, Darcy and his goons cornered Lucas and threw their lunches at him, screaming "go back to Soviet Russia," humiliating Lucas in the process. Matthew heard about it when he and Seth got out of the classroom where their in-school suspension was at from Lucas who was covered in various stains and blubbered to Matthew about what had happened.

Matthew told Lucas to "man up" and that he'll come up with a plan for Darcy. He spent the rest of the school day and night coming up with the design of the stink bomb. Matthew then spent a good part of the day, sneaking around the school, gathering items needed for the stink bomb, including a foul-smelling sock from a middle school student's gym locker. He gathered up the supplies and met up with Seth and Lucas in the science lab across from Darcy's locker. Lucas had brought an old plastic propeller that he disassembled from one of his old toy boats a year ago. Matthew wore a scowl on his face and whispered; "Now it's the time to get back at that prissy bastard!"

Matthew mixed the concoction inside of the enormous shell of the to-be stink bomb while Lucas attached the propeller and tested it with the remote. "That Darcy Bishop thinks he's so cool and stuff, but let's see how cool he really is once he stinks forever!" Matthew mixed the green concoction, probably looking like a clichéd witch from a Halloween movie. "Nobody but me humiliates my lackeys and gets away with it!" Matthew dumped the contents from hot sauce bottle he stole from cafeteria kitchen and kept stirring.

"Matthew, this is crazy!" Seth tried to reason with Matthew, keeping his distance from the stink bomb. "I know Darcy is a piece of crap, but this plan is crazy! You did not even think this plan all the way through."

"I'm surprised Matthew even could up with a halfway decent design," Lucas remarked.

"I give up!" Seth huffed, "is the stink bomb almost ready? Darcy should be at his locker anytime to get his books for the next class."

"Almost Seth," Matthew replied, adding the smelly sock to the mix. "-And it's done!"

All three of them remained silent as mice until Darcy showed up, taking a couple of books out of his locker. Matthew quickly approached him, concealing his devious glee, "hey Darcy! You're looking well today!"

"Cut the small talk, fatty! What scam are you trying to pull now?" Darcy sneered, "I have better things to do than deal with a working class scam artist."

"I've got something to show you, Darcy," Matthew remained calm. He was going to have the last laugh. Oh he can already taste the savory taste of revenge. "It's in the science lab. Imagine it, your very own blimp. You could fly home without the use of a private plane. Think about it! No having to deal with working class pilots. You would have more money to spend upon whatever you buy."

"Where is this blimp? How much is this going to cost me?" Darcy asked, unconvinced.

"For you, only a quarter!" Matthew replied, "It's in the science lab, follow me!" Matthew led Darcy inside and showed him the `blimp,' "Isn't she a beaut? I call her the El Mongo S-Blimp!"

"It looks ugly!" Darcy made a face.

"It's a blimp; we could throw a fresh coat of paint on it for free!" Matthew insisted. "Why don't you get under that and see for yourself! Matthew pointed to the bottom of the stink bomb that was held up by chains. Just as Matthew was about to discuss the "scam" further, he noticed that one of the ropes he used was starting to break from the stink bomb's weight.

Darcy shrugged and crawled in the space under the stink bomb. Just as Matthew was about to signal for Lucas and Seth to get out of there before the stink bomb bursts, the stink bomb malfunctioned. The propeller started automatically, causing the part to become erratic and causing the propeller to splinter from the repeated contact with the wall.

Matthew quickly dashed towards the other side of the room in awe as Darcy started to notice what was going on, "what's going on? What did you do?" Darcy snapped. Darcy started to crawl away from the stink bomb, but it was too late. The erratic propeller cut the already weak rope and the stink bomb fell on top of Darcy. Just their luck, Sasha also walked down the hallway near the science lab and spotted them.

"C'mon, you dumbasses!" Matthew grabbed Seth and Lucas by the arm, dragging them towards the door. They stopped and glanced back when they heard the stink bomb pop while it was still crushing Darcy. The smell burn Matthew's nostrils, causing his eyes to water.

"You idiot!" Seth screamed, covering his mask tightly. Not even the mask could protect him against the foul stench. Seth pushed Matthew with his free hand, causing the other kid to stagger a bit.

Sasha was the next one to scream, "I'm telling on you, you psycho dork! I can't breathe!"

"Get back, you little rat!" Matthew coughed between words. He started to chase after Sasha until he heard Darcy wailing. He had almost forgotten that Darcy received the worse of it. In the distance, he could hear the sounds of other students and teacher screaming loudly about the smell.

"You pompous thug! It stinks so badly! I'm going to call my daddy and have him put you in a reform school for boys!" Darcy threatened. The blond tilted his head to the side and puking up his lunch onto the floor beside him.

Matthew snorted in laughter. He was not afraid of Darcy's father. "Put a sock in it! Where the heck is Lucas?"

"He passed out from the smell," Seth informed Matthew, slapping him across the head. "This is all your fault! You should have tested it first!"

Matthew slapped Seth back and they tussled on the floor before the principal came and broke them up, sentencing Matthew, Seth, and even Lucas to a week of in-school suspension. The school was closed for two days due to the strong residue smell from the stink bomb, even after the staff opening up all of the windows. The stench still could be smelled from certain areas of school when the school deemed the school safe enough for students to return. The only ones that were injured were a couple of kids who twisted their ankles running from stench and Darcy who was crushed by the thing.

Matthew, Seth, and Lucas went straight to the in-school suspension room where they would have to deal with whatever stooge the principal put in charge of them. Matthew even saw Darcy on his way to the room and made gagging sounds as if he was throwing up, mocking Darcy's threats toward him three days previous in a falsetto voice. Darcy and his merry band of brown-nosers did not find the joke humorous at all, but to Matthew; the joke was a riot.

The three sat down at a desk and waited for the student to come in. The principal would usually get some sap to agree to watch their classmates for a day for extra credit in their classes. Seth doodled in his notebook, Lucas listened to his cassette walkman and drummed his fingers on the desk, and Matthew vandalized underneath his desk with a Sharpie.

"When is this sap supposed to get here?" Matthew groaned out in boredom, "I know if we got stuck with Sasha, I'm going to put tacks in his seat and make his whole day hell."

"I hope we didn't end up with Sasha either." Seth agreed, "He's a complete butt kisser!"

Matthew noticed Sasha walking towards the door. What caught his curiosity the most was the female that Sasha chatted up. He can tell that the girl is new, because no other girl in the school had black curly hair. Sasha chatted with her more than he chatted with anyone that they've known. Matthew felt jealousy consume him. He tried to befriend Sasha and got spat in the face over his proposal. Who the hell was this chick that Sasha was talking to? Matthew wrote a quick note to Lucas, asking about the girl. Matthew passed the note to Seth, who gave the note a quick glance before passing it to Lucas.

Lucas took a quick glance at the note between writing up a message of his own and passing the note back to Matthew. Lucas written that the girl's name was Misty Holliston. She was a new classmate of theirs who also got shunned to the loser's table much like Matthew was two years previously. Any hope Matthew had at possibly having the girl join their group was dashed at the final piece of information Lucas left him; the girl was best friends with Sasha and was the same one who attended the Nana Mouskouri concert with him.

Matthew's breath hitched as soon as the girl entered the room. Between the curtains of dark inky waves was a beautiful porcelain-like face and sharp grey eyes. The girl wore a beaded seashell necklace around her neck, a white blouse, a wool skirt, and Mary Jane shoes with lacey socks. How did Sasha end up associating with a chick as pretty as her?

A new sensation took over inside of his chest. He has not felt like this since he spied on Sasha and whenever he remembered the incident. Like Matthew, the ten year old girl was also heavyset and an "early bloomer." The girl's chest was as well-endowed as a high school girl's. The girl's posture was awkward, due to shyness. Matthew could not help himself but stare. He really could not get enough of the mere sight of her.

"H-hello, I'm Misty Holliston" The girl stuttered, setting her book with a fairy on the cover down, "I-I'm going to be watching you three for the principal today." She nervously grabbed inside of her book bag and took out a candy bar, consuming it quickly to possibly help her with her nerves.

"A-are there any questions?" She asked.

"I've got one," Matthew raised his hand, "the principal normally does not send pretty girls to watch over me in ISS. Is day special or something?"

Misty looked baffled by the statement. She would not even answer that. Seth and Lucas roared with laughter at Matthew. It was not every day that they got to witness Matthew make a complete fool of himself. The two quickly became silent when Matthew shot them a look. He was still new at trying to woo his fixations at the time. The silence already had Matthew imagining what her lips would feel like against his.

"Quit making fun of me," She cried, darting towards the teacher's desk as if he put hot coals under her feet. He was not deterred though. He finished a couple of assignments that he should have done months ago and strolled over to her. She was working on her language arts homework when Matthew approached her.

"Word around school is that you're a big fan of Nana Mouskouri," Matthew spoke, leaning over the large wooden desk.

"Yes, I am," She answered.

"Did you know that I can play an instrument?" Matthew lied. At the time, he could not even play the recorder without it sounding more like the gym teacher's whistle.

"What instrument do you play?" Misty asked, curiously.

"I play the harp like a regular cupid," Matthew boasted. At the time, that was a lie. He picked an instrument that he thought sounded like something girls would've been impressed by.

"I-I'll have to listen to you p-play sometime," The girl replied, her posture not loosening up any. "Please, go back to your seat though. I would get in trouble if you are out of your desk."

Matthew had written Lucas and Seth a note once he got back to his desk, demanding that they behave for Misty. They left her alone, but they would not let Matthew hear the end of it after school. They chanted various love songs mockingly to purposely infuriate Matthew. They also expressed their disbelief that Matthew would fall this fast for a girl, not completely understanding what Matthew sees in her. Two less people that he would have to worry about moving in on her, he figured. He still was paranoid of Sasha stealing her away though.

It was kind of bizarre to remember in retrospect that he was worried about his future fixation stealing away his fixation at the time. Though, it probably shouldn't have been too bizarre, considering he was also paranoid of Sasha stealing away Edd years later.


	12. That Damn Kanker

Matthew sat in his cell bored out of his mind. The prison doctor deemed that Matthew was able to do an hour of exercise, but no more than that. The doctor advises him to do arm curls or run around in the gym area, but anything else would put unnecessary strain on his back. The doctor quickly added that Matthew could only have one day a week to tone his legs – if Matthew was extremely careful. Matthew asked the doctor jokingly if he were still able to perform sexually. When the doctor answered him, Matthew gave out a sigh of relief. As long as Matthew did not try to lift up his partner, he would be fine. That was the best damn news he heard all day.

Matthew sat in his cell and strummed the air as if there was a harp in front of him. One of the many things he was going to miss while being stuck in the correctional cage. When he was bored, he would absentmindedly play the harp to pass the time by. Of course, the prison would have extremely strange rules about what was allowed within prisons and what wasn't. For some strange reason, bondage magazines were not allowed which only frustrated Matthew to no end.

Viewing bondage magazines to him was the icing on the cake when it came to him getting off when it was just him and his hand. He was currently waiting on the prison officials to inspect the stack of porn magazines Lucas sent before Thanksgiving. The prison staff had to go through each magazine to see if the porn images were acceptable before handing them to Matthew and most prison staff was irked by what different prisoners considered titillating and only scanned through porn magazines on a slow day. What a bunch of prudes!

Matthew was still pissed over one of the prison explaining to him that the harp can be used as a deadly weapon due to the strings of the instrument. Anything to make him miserable, he supposed. He had been playing the harp for fourteen years, starting the day that he first discovered the signup sheet for the humble talent show at his elementary school. It was the same day that Matthew also found out about how his ancestors lost Peach Creek in the first place.

Matthew gave his speech in front of the class. The assignment was how their families first came to Peach Creek. Matthew gave his with great zeal, determined to outdo his fellow classmates and ended the report with; "-In conclusion, my ancestors founded this miserable town and every single one of your houses belongs to me!"

"Does anyone have any questions?" The teacher asked, completely at a loss for words.

"I do," Seth spoke up, "I want to do mine next since Matthew's and my ancestors met."

"I suppose you can," The teacher answered.

Seth brought his paper to the front of the classroom and stood beside Matthew and cleared his throat. Matthew eyed up his friend, "You don't have announce to the classroom that your ancestor was my ancestor's slave or shoe-shine boy. You can save yourself a world of embarrassment."

Seth rolled his eyes and began his speech, "My grandmother's last name was Kanker before she got married and changed her last name to Lovering. She was one of the direct descendents of Lord Kanker. Lord Kanker was a wealthy Dutch nobleman who had came to America before the American Revolutionary War. He was known to be a major gambler in his day that travelled from town to town until he came to Peach Creek. Lord Kanker met Matthew McGee's ancestor shortly after he arrived into town. When Matthew's ancestor found out about the Kanker wealth and when Lord Kanker found out about the town deed, they saw a golden chance to become even wealthier. The two decided to have a high-stakes game which the wager was on the deed to the town or Lord Kanker's oldest daughter and part of his wealth. Lord Kanker ended up winning the deed to the town with a royal flush."

"What?!" Matthew squawked, "You made that up!"

"Bring out that book you used for the information for your paper." Seth responded, taking out a piece of worn paper that looked like a torn out page from a library book. Matthew pulled out the antique brown book entitled `Fort Peach Creek' from his book bag. Seth quickly snatched the book away from Matthew. "What's with the stupid page? We're wasting time! I want to know which items from Darcy's house I get!"

"You might eat my entire fridge first, fat boy!" Darcy jeered from his desk. "If you or that mask-wearing trailer trash own Peach Creek, I'm moving! If either of you two psychos own Peach Creek, the entire town would become slaves just to feed Jabba the Hut up there. Combined with their communist friend, Lucas, this town would become a communist armpit before the town gets blown to pieces by our president."

"Go ahead and move already, Darcy," Matthew yelled, "nobody would miss you if you do!" Matthew groaned as the entire class started laughing.

"That's enough, boys! The feud between you two is getting old!" Their teacher patronized them for their behavior. "I'm going to get one of the junior high history teachers in here to confirm Seth's and Matthew's claims since he use to work for the Peach Creek Historical Society. I'll be back in a minute."

Matthew noticed Seth flipping around the book, scanning the pages of its contents. "What the hell are you doing, Seth? I want to see if I can legally put that bastard in his place."

"Did you even listen to my paper? Your ancestors lost the town to my ancestor, Lord Kanker," Seth reminded him, "I'm looking to see if the book mentions what happened to my family after Lord Kanker won the deed to Fort Peach Creek. If Lord Kanker was a nobleman, how come I live in one of the poorest areas of Peach Creek?"

"You're asking me like I should know," Matthew looked through the crowd at his classmates. It did not surprise him that they were not even paying attention, except for Lucas, Sasha, and Misty. Misty, in particular was dressed a bit differently that day. Lacy black fingerless gloves adorned her wrists. Black eyeliner decorated her eyelids in a pseudo-Egyptian design, making the color of her grey eyes pop out in contrast. He felt more confident when he knew he had her attention, even if it was momentary. Darcy did not exist as far as Matthew was concerned right then.

His teacher returned with a balding middle aged teacher. The teacher confirmed that Matthew and Seth were the legitimate heirs of Lord Kanker and the town's founding fathers when they both disclosed their grandparents' names to the history teacher. The middle school teacher then gave them a bit of history of what happened to Lord Kanker and the town deed after the poker deal.

Lord Kanker owned the town for a while until he was forced to relinquish control of the city in place for a more democratic system. Lord Kanker and his descendants lived in a manor in town, the old abandoned manor in Matthew's neighborhood to be more exact, until the Great Depression when the Kanker family lost their family fortune and their house. The family went from princes to paupers that unfortunate day in history.

As for Matthew's family, they lived in obscurity after that infamous poker game. The family was more interested in trying to earn easy money than claim any kind of leadership position within the city. After Matthew and Seth heard that, Seth guffawed next to him. Matthew sneered, what was so damn funny? Matthew stomped on Seth's foot and returned to his desk. Matthew was a sore loser even in something as small as a pissing contest.

When lunch time approached, Matthew made a bee line towards the loser's table and set his tray down on the table. Sasha and Misty sat across from each other at the table. Matthew stood behind Sasha and watched the two friends exchange stickers. "I'll give you my ninja sticker for your Dracula sticker." Sasha held up the ninja sticker to show the girl.

"Seems fair enough," Misty replied, exchanging stickers with Sasha, "I need to start a section in my sticker book for Asian stuff like ninjas, geisha girls, and Hello Kitty. I already have more unicorn stickers than I know what to do with. That and I have too much berry stickers too."

"If you don't want some of the berry stickers, I'll take them," Sasha replied.

"We'll see," Misty responded, "I have something to give you too. Since we've been such good friends, I want to give you a friendship pin."

"Ah, you didn't have to, but I really appreciate it," Sasha replied, pinning the pin to his shirt after receiving the gift.

Matthew had seen enough. He shoved Sasha to the side and sat in front Misty, "Miss me, doll face?"

"Oh, hello Matthew." Misty greeted, awkwardly, "Sasha was sitting there."

"Don't worry about that chump," Matthew replied, "I won't be for just a moment."

"Oh okay," Misty nodded, giving Sasha an apologetic look and turning back to Matthew. "I-I s-s-see you have n-new fingerless gloves on."

"Yeah, they're pretty awesome," Matthew grinned, "I see you got a pair of new fingerless gloves on too. With those and the makeup, you look exactly like the girls from music videos."

"Quit making fun of me," Misty replied. "I know you don't mean what you say. You're just like Darcy and Stacy. This morning, Stacy called me an ugly fat wannabe-tramp and Darcy told me that pigs in skirts and eyeliner should not even be considered girls, especially compared to actual girls like Stacy."

Misty suddenly broke down in front of him. It was pretty obvious that she was having a horrible day, putting up with the gruesome twosome. He also puts up with Darcy's and Stacy's abuse on a daily basis. Stacy's thing with him, Lucas, and Seth was to pretend to be interested into being their girlfriend and then turn around a minute later and fess up that she was only lying to them, listing their shortcomings as reasons why she would never fall for them. They never fell for it though. Her acting skills were second-rate and they just let Stacy play her own little games.

He had seen some of the abuse that Misty had faced. Stacy would pull Misty's hair, put chunks of food in Misty's curly hair, scream loudly that she found a bug crawling on Misty, or any kind of nasty little stunt to humiliate the black haired girl. Darcy was no better. He made the same fat jokes at Misty that he did to Matthew and Matthew was getting fed up with it.

Matthew could see the ire burning in Sasha's eyes with he glanced at the redhead for a brief moment. It was as if he was the one who made Misty cry. That cocky fucking bastard had a lot of nerve to look at him like that. If Misty was not crying in front of them, he would have dragged Sasha to the nearest toilet and dunked the bastard's head in.

"You're mean to Sasha and I don't understand why you keep trying to get my attention and act nice to me if you're just going to be mean to me too." Misty added, between sobs. Matthew brushed his hand against Misty's. The rough leather fabric of his gloves met the delicate fabric of hers momentarily before Matthew walked out of the cafeteria, gesturing for Lucas and Seth to follow him.

Matthew roamed around the hallways hitting random lockers and walls with his fists. Seth and Lucas followed behind him, like baby ducks being led along. "Fucking Darcy! Fucking Stacy! Fucking Sasha! How the hell am I suppose to win over Misty if those three are not – UGH! She gave Sasha a friendship pin and not me!"

"Aren't you getting a tad jealous over nothing?" Seth asked, rubbing circles around his temple as if he were getting a migraine.

"What do you mean?" Matthew snapped, "Did you see the way she was all cozy to him?"

"That's what I mean. Exchanging stickers and friendship pins? That's how chicks interact with each other!" Seth explained, irritating, "Misty sees Sasha as another girl and Sasha seems not to mind becoming one of the girls. He wasn't looking down every five seconds at her chest like you were before she started crying! They are just friends!"

"Now that I think about it, I never saw Sasha show interest in any of the girls," Lucas chimed in, "Not in a romantic way."

"He's a dweeb, what else is new?" Matthew dismissed.

"You can be completely dumb sometimes. You know that right? The guy is gayer than that Frankie Goes to Hollywood `Relax' music video and he's only ten. I saw him at the mall the other day and he was looking at a Calvin Klein underwear ad longer that I ever seen any other guy look at one before." Lucas stated.

"That would explain a few things about Sasha then," Seth added.

Matthew felt relief when he heard that. Consciously, it meant that Matthew did not have any romantic rivals in his pursuit to win Misty over. However, the news also served another purpose towards a side of Matthew that he tried so hard to suppress. The news meant that Matthew was not the only one who felt those kind of urges towards other guys. Matthew felt a smirk grace his own features as he kept walking.

He was stopped in his tracks when a poster caught his eye. It was for a talent show that was in six months. The grand prize was $100 and a golden trophy or trophies to the participants of the talent show. The limit of participants per act was four. It was perfect. "Hey boys, looks like I found what we are going to be doing for six months."

"A talent show? What entertainment talents do we have other than making jackasses out of ourselves in front of classmates during scams?" Seth asked, not convinced.

"We'll form a band!" Matthew announced, almost giddily.

"None of us play any instruments though or have any," Seth pointed out.

"So, we'll get some and practice long and hard before the talent show," Matthew replied, "we'll pick a song that already exists and master it with our instruments. I'll master it with a harp and you two can pick whatever instruments you want to play."

"I always wanted to play a synth player," Lucas announced eagerly, "I can call a friend of my dad's that could give us a few lessons on how to play instruments. She's a retired band teacher. What kind of instrument are you going to play, Seth?"

"The drums I suppose," Seth sighed, hesitantly, "I still say it's going to take us years to master those instruments."

"Get a clue, Seth," Matthew snorted, "We're not planning on going toe-to-toe with Duran Duran or something; we just need to learn how to blow a bunch of amateurs out the water."

"I can buy the instruments and bring them to your houses." Lucas replied, "I can have one of my nannies drive me to the city to buy them. Just make sure to be home around seven so you can get them."

That one talent show poster led to Matthew pursuing one of the few hobbies he had other than scamming people and one that he relied upon to relieve boredom or drown out his own thoughts. Who knew that playing an instrument would be so rewarding?


	13. Theodore Luster

A/N: This chapter does contain sexual abuse. If you, the reader, are uncomfortable with that, you may skip this chapter.

Mattie finally got the letters his mom and dad sent. The prison mail system was in disarray, so prisoners had to wait months before receiving whatever letters were lost in the prison mail room. The letters he received from his parents go all the way back to October, so Matthew figured he would start there. Most of the letters were his mom telling him how much she missed him. However, there were more than quite a few letters where she begged him to confide to her about the sexual abuse. His mother was obsessed with finding out who had hurt her baby boy so many years ago. Matthew took out a piece of paper from the desk in his cell and wrote; `Mom, it does not matter anymore.'

It did matter though. The horrible event that occurred 14 years ago was his Achilles' heel. Compared to that event, being trapped in that concrete cage called a prison is heaven. He felt his chest tighten up and he could barely breathe. He's been trying to outrun the ghost of that event for fourteen years without any permanent solace. Alcohol, women, men and random acts of violence and cruelty only brought temporary relief when faced with that memory.

"Let me go, you dorks!" Sasha was dragged past the Blood Pt. street sign. "Where are you psychos taking me?"

Lucas and Matthew each had a hold of one of Sasha's wrists and Seth walked behind them to make sure Sasha didn't try to make a run for it. "We should be practicing on playing Duran Duran's `Hungry like the Wolf.' The music teacher lady did give us a few lessons on how to play those instruments, but we still need to practice that song if we're going to get any good at it."

"We've been practicing that song for several weeks. We can use a break." Matthew replied, "Besides that one house on this street isn't too far away. The one at 13 Blood Point."

"No! No! No!" Sasha writhed, trying to get away, "that house contains a monster! My parents told me to stay away from it. The house is dangerous for children!"

"Stop moving, you dipshit!" Matthew squeezed Sasha's wrist tightly. "Stop moving or I'll feed you to the thing!"

Sasha stilled, allowing the boys to drag him down the street. However, Sasha was not the only one who took issue to their intended destination. "Mattie, we should head back," Seth suggested, fearfully, "who knows what's in that house. I don't think the adults in this town are preventing us kids from going there as a practical joke!"

"Shut up, Seth," Matthew growled, "we're going!"

"Why are we going there, Matthew?" Seth asked, irritated with his friend's stubbornness and then added under his breath, "we might as well rename ourselves the all-you-can-eat idiot kid buffet!"

"There might be treasure there," Matthew explained, "think about it! Whenever there's a monster around, they're usually guarding something good like a big ole diamond, a room full of gold, or even the secret to being forever young."

"Why the hell would I want to be ten years old for the rest of my life?" Seth spat.

"Look, we're going to have Sasha knock on the door of the house and we're going to sneak in through one of the side windows. Piece of cake!" Matthew announced, proud of himself for coming up with what he thought was a ingenious plan.

They stood outside of the house once they had arrived. The brown painted house with dead grass stood eerily quiet. A tree stood in the middle of the yard whose roots were wrapped around the tree trunk like a natural hangman's noose. To Matthew, the roots appeared to be strangling the tree. Matthew's heart was thudding loudly in his chest when he crept alongside of the house with Lucas and Seth while Sasha knocked on the door.

Each of the windows was covered with dark grey drapes. Matthew pressed up on each of the windows to see if any of them were unlocked. The sound of Sasha knocking on the door can still be heard. One of the windows eventually opened and Lucas and Seth slid through the windows first. The two helped Matthew in afterward.

The room was a far cry from the spooky settings in horror movies. The room was deceptively cozy. A queen-sized with a white headboard and white and pink floral sheets sat in one corner of the room. Lace doilies sat on top of the wooden furniture in the room. An ornate rug sat in the middle of room. The only abnormal thing in the room was the shrine of clippings from newspaper ads of male children either in swim trunks or in underwear.

"Psst, what's with all of the Sunday paper ads?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know. Check the dresser drawers for treasure," Matthew demanded, looking through one of the dressers, "Nothing but clothes!"

"I found a thick booklet for something called Namb-la. What the heck is that?" Seth questioned after he looked through an underwear drawer.

"It's probably for some school." Matthew dismissed, "put the booklet back and look!"

"I found something!" Lucas announced, pulling a large metal box out from underneath the bed, "we just need a key and –"

Before Lucas could finish his sentence, the door suddenly opened and a voice shouted, "What are you kids doing looking through my stuff?"

"Ah, guys. An adult lives here," Sasha announced from behind the adult in the doorway. The man's grey eyes scanned each of the kids, seemingly bewildered by the three looking through his room. The man also sported slicked back blonde hair and was considerably well-groomed. Even the man's clothes were average. Did they come to the right house?

"Ah sir, I'm sorry," Seth was the first to apologize, "we had no idea someone lived here. At least something that didn't come from a horror movie."

The bewilderment on the man's face quickly turned eerily cheerful in amusement, "Alright boys, do your parents know you came here?"

"What? You gonna call them and tell on us," The man's eyes fell upon Matthew when he uttered that.

"You have quite a bit of fire within you. You must be the little leader to this little brigade," The man remarked, dropping down to Matthew's eye level and caressed his cheek.

"Y-yeah, so what if I am?" Matthew replied, almost confidently. He was not sure if he enjoyed the way the man touched his cheek.

"Well, I wouldn't want to change that," The man stopped caressing him and stood up, "well, boys, I'm not going to contact your parents, granted that you stay here at least for a while."

"You are so cool, whatever your name is!" Matthew chirped, elated that he was not in trouble for sneaking into the house.

"Call me Ted, kid," The man replied. "What foods do you kids like? I might be able to whip up something in the kitchen for lunch."

"I like chili, so make that!" Matthew commanded.

"A mushroom and sausage pizza would be better, dork," Sasha replied after Matthew.

"Would fried fish and breaded mushrooms be out of question," Came Seth's answer.

"What about you, boy?" The man asked Lucas.

"I highly doubt a man of your class knows how to make this, but I would like lapin à la moutarde," Lucas replied, accurately pronouncing the dish without much issue.

"How about I just make you hotdogs and fries," The man suggested.

Matthew shrugged, "That works!"

The man led them to the living room of the house where child sized mannequins stood in four corners of the room. The mannequins looked like plastic baby dolls that were blown up to the size of a small child. The mannequins were creepy, but Matthew chose to ignore them. Their blank, dead expressions might have chilled Matthew to the bone, but the mannequins were just for decoration, right? The living room was as cozy as the bedroom was.

"Oh Ted," Lucas called the man in the kitchen; "You're a tailor, are you not? That's what the mannequins and the newspaper clippings in your room are for, right? It's to get an idea of what kind of clothes to make for kids."

"I suppose you can say that, kid," Ted replied.

"Why just focus on making clothes for children," Matthew asked, "I mean you can make clothes for adults as well and make more money that way."

"- Because adults do not have the same appeal to me. You see, once a child becomes a teenager, their beauty withers like a flower that has sat out for too long." If Matthew was wiser, he would have ran out of the house right then. However, naivety caused Matthew not to think too much on Ted's views on a child's physical attributes, the mannequins in the living room, the newspaper clippings, and the NAMBLA booklet – granted neither of the boys looked through that booklet, thankfully. Those were the kind of things that he overlooked as a child that begun to make sense once he got older and much wiser.

After they ate lunch, Ted had Matthew sit in his lap. Matthew reveled in becoming Ted's favorite. Matthew chatted at the man a mile-a-minute about school, scams, pranks, and anything else his little mind could think of while Ted caressed his face, hips, and thighs. It felt weird, but Matthew shrugged it off. He didn't even care if his friends were jealous of all of the attention he was receiving. The conversation extended to the other kids in the room. Ted took his time to know each of them. After a while, Ted revealed his true colors to Matthew and the rest of the boys when he made a particular offer to Matthew, "hey kid, would you like some vodka and Kool-Aid? I can whip us up a glass."

"Guys, we should get out of here like now!" Seth beseeched, leaping off of the sofa in the living room. "Adults are not supposed give kids alcohol! There's something fishy going on. T-this is the right house –the house with the monster. Theodore Luster, eh – Ted, is what our parents warned us about!" Seth turned toward Ted, "your name is Theodore Luster, isn't it? That's the name that was on letters in your underwear drawer."

"Well, one of you is not as naïve as you look," Ted replied, grabbing Matthew by the throat. Matthew shook when he felt sharp, cold steel press against his neck lightly ten seconds later. Matthew, along with the rest of the group screamed in terror at the sight of the knife.

"Ted, please don't hurt him. We didn't mean to break into your house," Lucas shook, "I'll pay you whatever you want! Please!"

"Let us go," Sasha was the next one to plead with the deranged man, "we won't tell anyone, I promise!"

"T-Ted, I thought you liked me," Matthew cried out in fear.

"I do, baby, but I have quite a few plans for you and your little friends," Ted pushed Matthew off of him and stood up. Matthew yelped when he landed on his knees, but quickly recovered and stood up backing away as Ted approached him. Matthew and his friends huddled against each other for security in the terrifying situation. Ted eyed them up like a wolf views a flock of sheep. "Stand in a fucking line if you don't want to get stabbed!" Ted barked at the terrified group.

The kids stood side-by-side to appease the man. Matthew was at the end of the line. Seth was the first unfortunate victim of Ted's monstrous lust. Seth protested as Ted removed his shirt and mask. Other than the protests, Seth was obviously too scared to fight back against the man. They all were. Luster grabbed Seth's crotch and kissed Seth, thrusting his tongue inside of Seth's mouth. Luster pulled away, tsked at the sight of the bruises covering Seth's mouth and torso. "I don't understand why anyone would want to leave ugly bruises on children; it's just like throwing black paint on the Mona Lisa." Ted commented. Seth was spared from being Ted's favorite due to the physical evidence of Seth's father's aggression towards him.

Lucas was next and was spared due to his high-pitched sobbing. Then Sasha was next and was spared due to Ted's distaste for red hair. They were all groped and kissed in a similar way. By the process of elimination, Matthew was next. His shirt was yanked off just like the others. However, as soon he felt Ted's lips upon him, Matthew socked him. "Fuck off, you queer!" Matthew shouted the word he learned from Seth at the "camping" trip.

"Well, I just found my favorite out of all of you!" Ted announced, "I figured it would be you anyway, little leader!" Ted grabbed Matthew and pulled him to the front of the line where he was face-to-face with Seth. Seth shook at seeing Ted in front of him again. Ted put his arm around Matthew and gave out his next twisted instruction. "If you want you and your friends to live, you will do what I just did to them while I tie them up."

Matthew remained quiet as he leaned closer to Seth. Neither of the children tried to escape due to the imminent danger involved. They were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered. Matthew followed Ted's instruction despite feeling sick to his stomach. The kiss between them was awkward and Seth's horrified whispers at Matthew to stop did not help the situation any. Matthew whispered an apology after groping on Seth. When Matthew had done the same thing to Lucas, Lucas had sobbed as much as he did when Ted kissed him. Matthew was not even sure if his apology to Lucas made a difference due to the sickening actions he was forced to partake in while Ted got behind Seth and Lucas and restrained them with rope that was conveniently under the couch.

The kiss between him and Sasha was different. Something lit inside of him that he never knew existed. The feeling of Sasha's lips upon his was intoxicating. Hearing Sasha moan into his mouth while he grabbed onto Sasha's crotch caused his genitals to ache and his heart to flutter with adrenaline. His testicles had started to hang lower than normally a month before and he wondered if that had anything to do with the strange feeling.

Matthew frowned, was Sasha enjoying this? He, Lucas, and Seth had their doubts over Sasha being attracted to girls and Sasha seemed to have enjoyed Matthew's groping and open-mouthed kisses. There was no denying that Sasha was gay right then. Matthew questioned himself over his own sexuality. He enjoyed it as much as Sasha did. Was he queer too? He was infatuated with Misty, so he had to be normal, right? He barely noticed Ted tying up Sasha.

Matthew quickly pulled away from Sasha when he heard Ted clap. "That was pretty damn hot, kid. Did you enjoy yourself?"

Matthew's face turned red with embarrassment, "can you please let us go now?"

"No. I want you to take off the rest of your clothes and get down on the floor on your hands and knees." Ted unzipped his own pants and pulled out his cock, grabbing a bottle of lotion and lubing it up. Matthew gulped and removed his own clothing in defeat. When he got down on the floor, he felt Ted get down on the floor behind him. He was given no warning when Ted entered him. He screamed as loud as his lungs could. Ted whispered dirty things into his ear as he raped Matthew_, "_You're such a dirty little slut, aren't you boy? You would accept any kind of sexual attention just so you can feel wanted. Well, I'm going to fuck the whore straight out of you and make you into my perfect little housewife." Matthew was raped on the living room floor in front of his friends. Ted took Matthew's leather fingerless gloves as a keepsake after the rape.

Matthew was curled up in the fetal position in his prison cell as he was forced to remember that horrible event. Even fourteen years after the event, Matthew still felt dirty from being violated. The worst part was that he had his first ejaculation while he was raped. What was left of his childhood innocence was destroyed by that pedophiliac bastard. The worst part was that Ted had the audacity to go on live television the same night that Matthew attacked Sasha and complain about the schools and parents of the region, uttering the same words to describe unruly children as he did to describe Matthew before he raped him. Matthew wondered how many kids Ted had hurt.

A/N: This chapter was complete hell to write. Anyway, Lapin à la moutarde is a French dish that is basically a rabbit cooked with Dijon mustard for those of you who are curious about what Lucas' favorite food is.


	14. The Blood Oath

Lying on the floor like a scared child, Matthew curled in on himself. He hated what medications the prison psych doctor put him on. There was no escaping the memories this time. He felt sick to his stomach. He felt like he was about to throw up onto the floor. He berated himself for acting so weak and cowardly. Blood poured from where his own fingernails dug into his shoulder.

Matthew could not remember that exact details of how they escaped from Ted's clutches, but all four boys were to escape that house with their clothes and Ted's knife. They ran into the forest and kept running until they were sure that Ted was not on their trial. It felt like his lungs would collapse on themselves as he ran faster than he had ever run in his entire life. He finally stopped when he heard Sasha stop to rest and address the group, "Ted's not following us. We should slow down and catch our breath." Matthew turned to see Sasha flopped down on the ground near one of trees in the forest. Seth and Lucas had also stopped and were looking around the forest worriedly for the monster in that horrible house. The monster than looked too human to be like the monsters in movies, but Ted was somehow worse than anything to come out a cheap horror flick.

"I'm scared, guys," Lucas cried shrilly, his eyes welling up, "what if – what if he finds us and tries to-" The ten year old choked on his tears, "what if he tries to do to us what he did to Matthew! I mean, I mean Ted acted like he was going to do the same things to us since he was done with Matthew. What the hell was that? I thought that sex only happened between husbands and wives or queers and other queers. Why would – why would he try to force a child to do those things?"

"I don't know!" Seth yelled, "We'll probably find out when we get to a payphone and call the police or our parents."

"The hell we are!" Matthew's voice rumbled in his throat as he leaned against a dead cypress tree. "We disobeyed our own fucking parents and went into that house. What's going to happen if our parents find out? Do you think they're going to pity us for going against their wishes? Hell no! We're all going to get grounded and you're going to get your ass whooped again by your drunk dad. Also, Ted – Ted made me touch each of you. How much fucking trouble am I going to get into for that? How much trouble we all are going to get into for attempting to rob the guy?"

"What the hell are we supposed to do? Keep quiet about it!" Seth barked, stomping towards Matthew, "Did you forget what he did to us? What the hell he did to you?"

"Yes, Seth, that's exactly what we're going to do!" Matthew grabbed that switchblade knife from his pocket.

"Put that away!" Seth shuddered and stumbled back. "Put down the knife."

"What are you, scared?" Matthew taunted. He turned towards Lucas and scowled, "dry it up, Lucas! You big crybaby!" He then addressed them all, "Here's what's going to go down. We are going to keep this a secret or I'll kill the tattle-tell! You do not tell the teachers, our parents, people at school, or anybody! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Seth sighed, reluctantly.

"Yes, Matthew," Lucas blubbered, wiping away his tears with his arm.

Then Matthew gave them his next instruction, "We're going to take an oath to make sure that nobody tells. Hold up your pointer fingers and hold still. I saw this in a movie." The two kids held up their fingers with twin looks of uncertainty and fear written across their faces. When Matthew brought the switchblade to Seth's finger and cut across the finger just deep enough to allow a steady flow of blood to escape from the cut. Droplets of blood hit the blades of grass below their feet. Seth shook, but did not protest against the action. Matthew also cut Lucas' finger and his own. "Now touch my fingertip with your own and touch each other's fingertips after that. It's called a blood oath."

The two followed his instruction and did as he said. At the end, he had both Seth's blood and Lucas' blood smeared onto his fingertip along with his own blood. Their fingertips stopped bleeding when they suddenly remembered that Sasha was still there, watching the trio in horror. Sasha was glued to the spot, sweating profusely. Matthew beckoned Sasha to come closer with one finger. Sasha violently shook his head, "I don't want to! You guys are freaks! I'm not taking part in it. What would copying off of some cult ritual on TV prove? We can't keep quiet about what happened at Ted's house forever! Sooner or later, someone will find out!"

"You don't have much of a choice here, Sasha," Matthew hissed darkly, "we can either do things the easy way or we can do it the hard way!"

Sasha ran the opposite direction to escape. Matthew quickly barked orders at Seth and Lucas to catch him. Running was futile. There are only so many places in the forest where Sasha could run and escape. Matthew was going to send Sasha a clear message once Seth and Lucas catch him. Matthew then heard Seth call out, "Matthew, Lucas! I found him; hurry your asses over here!"

Matthew followed the sound a couple of feet until he saw Seth and Sasha on the ground. Sasha struggled to free himself from Seth's hold. Both boys were covered in dirt as if Seth wrestled Sasha to the ground. Seth held onto Sasha tight like a boa constrictor wrapped around its prey.

Lucas emerged from the bushes just as Matthew got down on his knees very slowly in front of Sasha. His body still ached from the sexual assault and from running. He somehow managed to keep himself from crying out in pain. He refused to appear weak in front of his friends. Matthew grabbed a fist full of Sasha's hair and stared him straight in the eye, "are you going to run away this time, you fucking sissy!" Matthew smirked in Sasha's face and looked up at Lucas, "get down here and hold his damn arm still! I'm tired of seeing Sasha's stupid face today."

Lucas nodded and grabbed Sasha's wiggling wrist. Sasha spat curses at all three of them. Matthew could see a couple of the blue veins in Sasha's wrist. He opened the switchblade again and pressed it to Sasha's wrist, carving a jagged bloody cut into the skin and touching it with his cut finger. A bloodcurdling scream from the redhead echoed throughout their part of the forest. Sasha's blood dripped down to his knife when he withdrew his finger and put the switchblade away. Matthew licked the blood off of his knuckles and commanded Seth and Lucas to touch the cut with their bloody fingers. They were able to despite some difficulty with Sasha wiggling around, trying to break free.

They left the forest quietly after the blood oath was done. Even Sasha was silent as he held onto his bleeding wrist, whimpering in pain. Matthew went home and acted as if nothing had happened. His whole body, including his hips, buttocks, anus, and private area still hurt causing him great discomfort when he walked or sat down. He eventually excused himself from dinner, much to his parents' bewilderment and announced that he was going to bed early.

However, going to bed was the one thing he could not do. He felt filthy and swore that he still smelt like Ted's sickly sweet cologne. He bolted into the shower with a fresh pair of pajamas. He scrubbed his skin raw and sat in the shower, just letting the water fall on him as he curled up into a ball and replayed the entire day in his mind. He was beginning to lose his grip on reality when he stepped out of the shower and changed into his pajama set.

The next thing that Matthew knew was that he was in the trailer park with no recollection of ever leaving his house. He was still in his pajamas and his hair was slightly wet. He did not even put on his shoes before going out. It felt like he was possessed. He walked towards Seth's trailer and noticed that all of the lights were out, which meant that Seth's dad was drunk and passed out into a stupor. Seth and his mom most likely were asleep. The only illumination came from the moon.

Matthew circled around the trailer like a shark. Even to the present day, he had no idea why he was outside of Seth's trailer or what his intentions were. All he knew was that the open switchblade was in his hand as he limped around the property. Suddenly a white stone was flying towards him and knocked the switchblade out of his hand. He fished around the dark grass, looking for the knife when another stone was set his way, "Do that again, you son-of-a-bitch! I'll fucking stab you!"

"Kid, I advise you cool your ass down before you get yourself in trouble," A familiar voice replied coolly from the darkness, "this is private property and you're acting too screwy. What the hell's the matter with you, boy?"

Instead of relief, Matthew felt his veins boiling with rage. He blindly hit the darkness hoping to hurt the person behind the voice. He cared not for his own well-being or about anything but to hurt the person in any way that he could. However, he was tripped by a person's legs and tumbled the ground. Matthew squealed out in a tearful rage and started scratching at his own face. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he continued to throw a fit.

A figure emerged from the shadows and stood before him. The brown cap still sat on the man's head and the man wore different clothes that were just as worn down as the clothes he first seen the man in a year ago. "Kid, you are a complete idiot. You know that? Even if you were not limping, you stand no chance in hell in beating a veteran. I'm just telling you the god honest truth."

"Shut up!" Matthew slowly got up. The stones that Roy threw and getting tripped only added to the soreness that Matthew must endure. He was in no condition to take down an adult, but he didn't care. He charged at Roy, but was spun around like a ballerina before he even had a chance to lay one hand on Roy. Roy threw them both to the ground and grappled him. Matthew later found out that grappling was just one of the many practices a soldier like Roy went through in the army.

Matthew tried to kick his way out of the hold, but Roy only tightened his grip each time Matthew moved. Panic quickly set in. Matthew was fearful that he was about to be molested again. He already dealt with it once that day. Roy was too close to him just like Ted was too close before Matthew got hurt. Matthew wailed and thrashed, "Please! Please! I'll do whatever you ask! Please don't put your dick inside of me. I'm already sore from someone else doing it!"

"Do what?" Roy's voice raised an octave from hearing Matthew's pleas, "I'm not going to molest you! I'm just trying to get you to calm down! I ain't going to put up with you showing up at my house with a knife and going berserk."

"Molest?" The word was completely foreign to Matthew. He had never heard that word from anyone before, not his parents, not his teachers, and not even on the TV. Matthew still tried to break free, but his efforts were only wearing him down.

"Yes, kid. Molest. It's when an adult does something sick to a kid like putting their dick in a kid's mouth, touching a kid's private parts, or even putting their dick in a kid's butt." Roy explained. "It's what the sick fuck you just mentioned did to you." Matthew still tried to struggle, but Roy whispered calming words in his ear. "Calm down. Calm down, kid. I'm not going to hurt you. It's alright now."

Matthew was released from Roy's grip as soon as he relaxed. Roy lifted himself up and helped up Matthew, despite Matthew trying to attack him earlier. "Thank you, Roy. You're not going to tell anyone about what happened to me, are you?"

"That's your business. If you want to head to the police and report the sick fuck, that's up to you." Roy said. "If you don't, I respect that decision too."

"Thanks Roy. I don't want to report it." Matthew whispered. "I should probably head home now."

"Kid, before you go." Roy gripped Matthew's shoulder and gave Matthew a serious look, "when you get your head back on straight, come back and see me, alright? I can teach you how to properly defend yourself against attackers. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be brutal, because that's how I learned how to defend myself."

"Okay Roy, I'll be back when I can." Matthew nodded eagerly and turned to go home.


	15. Mental Disorder

A team of guards surrounded Matthew's cell as he remained on the floor. They assumed that he was engaging in self-injury. Looking at his shoulder, he could see why. He sneered at the group. The group was as quiet as mice. It was like they were afraid that he would attack them if they said anything. One would assume that these rent-a-cops would have had at least some training dealing with possible suicidal or self-harming inmates. However, some prisons were not up to par with other prisons in the country. Matthew had begun to wonder if he was sent to one of them.

"Excuse me!" A black woman with a prison badge shouted hastily, trying to push past the group and assist Matthew. She was the prison psychologist. She was a large woman with cocoa colored skin and medium-length straightened hair. She quickly rushed towards the cell door and used her badge to get in. "Matthew? Matthew? Are you alright? What seems to be troubling you today?"

"Nothing, just memories," Matthew groaned.

"You have to fight against those memories, Matthew. They should have no power over you now," The woman said softly. Dr. Jones, the psychologist in front of him, was one of the few psychologists that he met that were competent enough to deal with patients like him. As Dr. Jones talked him into calming down, he remembered the first time he had ever dealt with mental health professionals.

Not even a week after the rape, Matthew had several freak outs. His parents tried everything from grounding him to taking toys away. However, it was not enough to stop Matthew's unexplained misbehavior and Matthew was less willing to confide in them over the rape. It wasn't until Matthew chased his dad around with a kitchen knife when his parents decided that Matthew needed professional help, so they had their son committed to a state psychiatric hospital.

There was not one positive thing that young Matthew could say about the hospital. He hated wearing hospital garb. He hated being asked a hundred questions regarding his own feelings and short life. He hated bland hospital food. He hated being put on a routine. He hated the assholes in the psych ward with him, which were mostly teenage boys since the hospital separated boys and girls but did not separate people by age. The whole place was worst than school. At least, he could've escaped school at the end of the day.

He sat at the desk in the head doctor's office. Both of his parents sat beside him. His mother ran her bright red painted fingernails through his head as she always did to either coax him to relax or to straighten out his hair. His dad had placed his hand on his shoulders and gave him an uneasy smile. It was pretty obvious that the head doctor brought them all in to discuss Matthew's misbehavior. The head doctor is going to tell his parents that he is a bad boy and he would have to spend more time in the loony bin.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Mr. and Mrs. McGee," The head doctor, Doctor Walton, waltzed in with a manila envelope with Matthew's first initial and last name written on the tab in black marker. The head doctor sat at his desk and watched Matthew like a scientist probing a lab rat.

"So what seems to be the trouble, doctor?" Carl asked. "Has Matthew gotten into some trouble here? I know he's been here for only a couple of weeks, but he cannot be in that much trouble, can he?"

"That is one of the reasons why I brought you two down here," Doctor Walton nodded curtly, "I'm hoping to ask you a few questions about your son to make an accurate diagnosis before starting any kind of specialized treatment."

"What kind of questions," Margaret asked, her eyes scanning the doctor for any kind of hint to what their conversation is going to be about.

"Just questions regarding your son's behavior before the circumstances that led to him getting committed." Doctor Walton replied, "Has your son ever harmed small animals for any purpose other than recreational hunting?"

"Heavens no!" Margaret quickly yelled, "Matthew is quite the opposite when it comes to animals. He plays with the garter snakes and stray cats outside and even cried for over an hour when I ran over one of his little snake pals with a lawn mower."

"Mom, you didn't have to tell him about that!" Matthew moaned in embarrassment.

"Calm down, Mrs. Mcgee. I'm just asking a few questions," The doctor chastised her quite sternly. "Has your son ever forced another child to engage in a sexual act?"

"Doctor!" Carl exclaimed, disgusted by the thought, "Matthew is only ten years old! I doubt he barely even knows what sex is!"

His dad's statement proved how little his parents knew about how soon he was prematurely maturing. He had the slightest inkling of what the damn doctor was referring to and was pissed. Matthew just fiddled his thumbs to keep himself preoccupied and looked at the clock every seven seconds.

"I think he knows more that you two acknowledge. I'll explain later," The doctor asked the next question almost automatically, "Does your son try to steal from others, con people, or lie in order to obtain something of value?"

"He runs little scams at school and has been called into the principal's office quite a few times, but I don't see how that would make my son crazy," Carl rubbed his temples. Whenever Matthew's dad did that, it usually meant that he was going start complaining about a migraine.

"Last question, does your son break things when he gets angry or set things on fire?" Dr. Walton questioned.

"Yes, he broke a few of his brother's belongings out of jealousy a couple of times, but that's just how brothers are. Are you accusing my son of being a little sociopath? My son might not be the most perfect child in the world, but he's not a little John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy!"

"Sociopathy is not a recognized psychological diagnosis. There is a group of behavior disorders that fit the characteristics of the stereotypical sociopath. One of those is Antisocial Personality Disorder. Since your son is underage and still has a small chance to change, it would inappropriate to classify Matthew as such. Even if Matthew was classified with Antisocial Personality Disorder, the chances of him becoming like John Wayne Gacy are very, very slim. I feel comfortable with diagnosing him with Conduct Disorder and an undefined mood disorder. Conduct Disorder is like a child version of the widely known Antisocial Personality Disorder, but kids and teens with the disorder can change and not develop Antisocial Personality Disorder as an adult. I also took the liberty of doing an IQ test on Matthew to rule out the possibility of a mental disability and your son has an IQ of 131, which is considerably high."

"What makes you so certain that he has Conduct Disorder and a mood disorder?" Margaret asked slowly, still in shock.

"The behavior he displayed at the institute is when I first started to suspect that diagnosis." Dr. Walton explained, "As I mentioned before, Matthew is one of the few kids in the ward and he is in regular contact with patients that are older than him. That in itself might be intimidating, but some of behavior he displayed went beyond merely trying to act macho in front of older teens. He has bad mood swings that seem to have an unknown trigger. I've noticed when Matthew is set off; he tries to harm the teenagers in the ward. Most of them are thankfully able to not engage Matthew into a physical altercation. However, a few of time have beaten your son in retaliation-" Both of his parents choked when they heard that. Dr. Walton added, "-Both boys have been formally punished for their actions, but back to Matthew. One of the worst was when one of the teens made a distasteful taunt. This boy had received formal punishment as well, but Matthew decided to take matters into his own hands. Matthew, why don't you tell your parents what happened and what that one teen said?"

Matthew groaned. He did not want to repeat what that awful teen said, but he had no choice. His freedom lay in the hands of this doctor. "I was told to go get fucked in the ass by a pack of old men." The grip on his shoulder tightened and his mom started rubbing his back to comfort him. "I waited until nobody was looking, went into one of the closets where everyone's clothes is, got one of the belts, and went into his room with it. He was showering in his bathroom and I busted in with the belt in my hand. I whipped him just like his own mom should have done a long time ago! I don't know why I'm here. This is boring and I just want to go home!"

"The boy you whipped ended up with welts across his buttocks, back and thighs," The doctor retorted, "you can't leave until I say that you can and you are in no condition to be released yet."

"It's not fair! I want to go home! I'll kill myself if I have to stay in this place any longer!" Matthew yelled. He became enraged in Dr. Walton's office. He threw a bunch of office supplies at the doctor and a chair at the office door. His parents tried in vain to control him, but he was too angry to listen to their words.

Matthew was eventually escorted by orderlies out of the office. His parents bid him goodbye quickly and sullenly as he was being escorted out. Both of them looked like they were losing a son. Matthew was dragged back into his room and the door was locked behind him. He rushed towards the door and twisted the knob desperately. He was trapped inside the room. He pounded and kicked at the door until his hands hurt. The orderlies ignored him. It just was not fair. He was locked up with the rest of the loony tunes while Ted, a sick and twisted person who needed to be locked away more than he did, was still out there despite what he had done.

Eventually Matthew got tired and flopped down on the bed to rest. His dreams were filled with both Misty and Sasha. Kissing both of them and touching them. He awoke early in the morning drenched in sweat. He felt something sticky between his thighs and tried to wipe away the unknown substance with one of his hands. He rushed to the bathroom and turned on the light. A white viscous liquid was at the palm of his hand where he tried to wipe away the stickiness from his thigh. He almost gagged at the sight and washed his hands in the sink.

He then got undressed and turned on the lukewarm water of the shower and got into the shower stall. His thoughts were in a frenzy over everything. That liquid was the same thing he produced when he was violated by Ted. Not only that, but his privates were more sensitive just like that time. What was going on with him? Was he going crazy? Who or what the hell was he becoming?

After getting washed up and dressed, he crept out of his room in the twilight hours. The door was surprisingly unlocked. The orderlies probably figured he would be in bed all night. He descended down the sterile hallway like a small ghost. He wanted to explore the ward without the orderlies breathing down his neck.

He was led to the entertainment room that he was never allowed in due to him being one of the lower level patients of the ward. To be able to enter the entertainment ward, a patient would have to be doing exceptionally well in the program. He spotted a dusty harp by the window and approached the instrument. He had no interest in the ping pong table in the middle of the room, the dart board, or the computer sitting at one of the desks. His focus was on that one instrument. In his time at the psychiatric hospital, he nearly forgot to practice his harp playing skills. He sat down near the gold glided instrument and let his fingers glide across the strings. After playing a couple of random notes, he begun to practice playing the song that he had practiced playing before the incident at Ted's, the song that he was going to woo Misty and the rest of his classmates with at the talent show.

After a while, he played another song on the harp. It was not a song he particularly enjoyed. In fact, he hated the song due to Lucas forcing both him and Seth to listen to the song repeatedly. Yet here he was, playing the song as if he enjoyed it as much as Lucas did. "Don't say a prayer for me now," Matthew even sung along to the words of the song that he remembered, "-save it 'til the morning after!" Perhaps he was going crazy. The orderlies found him in the entertainment room hours later when it was time for breakfast but did not punish him for sneaking in there. During the couple of months he spent at the state psychiatric hospital, he had gotten a lot of practice with the harp in the entertainment room.

A/N: I don't own the song Matthew played in this chapter, it's "Save a Prayer" by Duran Duran. The song also appeared in the first fanfic "Two Eds and a Bro."


	16. Mother

After the prison psychologist helped him through what he liked to refer to a "miniature freak out." He was back to staring at the various cracks in those concrete walls and even took a couple of glances out the window of his room. He was not placed on suicide watch due to Dr. Jones realizing that he did not mean to hurt himself. This whole thing felt like déjà vu. He's been down a similar road for so many years, he can almost predict which freak outs are going to be mild compared to the others. The freak outs or berserkers as Roy called them prevented him from enjoying the summer vacations with his friends. By the time he was released from the state psychiatric hospital, it would be in the beginning of August, about the time that parents would start to shop for school supplies for their young ones and enjoy the last moments of summer.

When he was released the first time, the ten year old noticed that families had begun to take residence within the cul-de-sac. A red-haired family moved in next door to him. A blond family consisting of an obese man, his wife, and their daughter also moved into the neighborhood. Down the street, a black-haired, frail-looking woman in a long white doctor's coat, Marian Vincent as Matthew later found out her name, moved in down the street along with her husband and a small bundle in her arms that wore a black sockhat and was wrapped up in a thin bed sheet; His little princess. Though during the only time he had ever seen Edd as a child, he disregarded him as just another cul-de-sac brat.

"Damn, there are quite a few people moving into your neighborhood," Seth remarked, missing a note on his drums, "If this keeps up, you might get yourself a girlfriend."

Lucas snickered, "let's predict who might become Matthew's girlfriend." Lucas scanned around the neighborhood for a split second and pointed towards the sleeping, small toddler in the black-haired doctor's arms. "I think I found her. The baby in the scientist or doctor lady's arms is probably going to be your next girlfriend!"

"Get real!" Matthew rolled his eyes, focusing on playing the harp. Seth snickered and Matthew chucked his dad's baseball at Seth's head. Seth ducked and the baseball hit a toolbox, bounced off of the metal, and rolled to another part of the garage. The turquoise wig and red fez hat fell off of Seth's head.

"Hey, you could've given me a knot on my head!" Seth complained, "Why are we dressed in these costumes anyway? I look ridiculous."

"Misty likes Alice in Wonderland," Matthew replied.

Lucas chimed, "So what! Most of the girls at the school like fairy tales like that."

"That hasn't been true in two years, Lucas," Seth informed and then added, "Well, for most girls at our school anyway. Misty is an outcast like us and doesn't keep track of what's popular. Most of the girls at our school are obsessed with that damn Valley Girl movie and the Coreys."

"Whatever," Lucas pounded his fingers on the synth player keyboard, "I honestly don't care. All I know is that I like the costume I'm in." The ten year old showed off his King of Hearts costume proudly.

"You had yours custom-made and got to choose what it looked like," Seth replied, "Matthew went into that large closet in his house and threw a bunch of random clothes together and said, `here's your smoking caterpillar costume. Wear it or else!' Seriously, I looked like the doofus sheik of Arabia or something."

"People are not going to be looking at you! They're going to be looking at me, so shut up!" Matthew boasted.

"Glad to see that `summer camp' did not change you a bit," Seth threw up quotation marks when he said the words `summer camp,' "Well, Mad Hatter, should we attempt to ruin our hands anymore than needed or can we actually do something else. It's a nice day out today."

"Ugh, fine!" Matthew tossed the red top hat onto one of the shelves in the garage, "I still say we're out of tune!"

The boys changed out their costumes and put them up for the next time they would need to wear them. A flash of pink and yellow ran past the open garage door and hurled itself at Matthew's legs. "Big Bro!" Eddy's voice was muffled into Matthew's legs. Matthew would've pushed Eddy or kicked him away if Lucas and Seth were not there to witness it.

"Get off me, Pipsqueak!" Matthew hissed.

"He talks now?" Seth asked while Lucas tried not to snicker at the scene.

"Barely," Matthew replied.

"It's nice that you finally came around and decided to teach him how to scam people," Seth remarked.

"Yeah, whatever," Matthew mumbled. "I didn't have anything else better to do a few months ago, so I started to teach him."

"Matthew? Eddy?" Matthew's mom called out from the garage door and waved at the two, "I'm going to be gone for a little bit. Your grandpa needs someone to cook him lunch, do his laundry, and tidy up his house. Will you boys be okay while I'm gone? It's only going to be a couple of hours."

"We're fine, mom!" Matthew groaned.

"Alright. You know your grandpa's number if you need to reach me." His mom got into her car and started the vehicle up, backing out into the driveway.

"So what are we going to do?" Matthew asked. "I'm stuck with Pipsqueak again."

"Lucas brought along a few pictures of his mom," Seth suggested. "We can take a look at them since my hands are cramping."

"Wait, you guys actually want to see those?" Lucas asked, startled by the suggestion, "Alright then." Lucas pulled out his leather wallet. Inside were a few hundred dollar bills, a card with his information on it in case he or the wallet gets lost or stolen, and several old pictures. The first picture featured a young woman who only looked about 18 or 19 at the oldest. The woman wore navy and white striped bikini and matching bottoms. The woman was carried bridal style by a younger-looking version of the unpleasant Holmes patriarch. The woman whose dark blonde hair resembled bronze and whose green eyes sparkled like gemstones held unto Lucas' father's shoulders and gazed lovingly into the man's face. The couple in the photo was on a beach with palm trees and a small white yacht in the distance. The picture looked almost like it could be on a brochure to an island resort. "That was my parents' first date on the Caribbean Islands. Dad said she loved how much more hardworking he was compared to the other men who tried to get with her. He first met her at the company he worked at, because her family invested in the business."

"Gee, you look like your mom," Matthew commented. Despite Lucas having his dad's hair and eye color, Lucas shared his mom's soft features and small nose.

"Thanks," Lucas responded, "uh, you look like your dad more than you do your mom."

"Thanks a lot, Lucas," Matthew replied sarcastically, "that makes me feel so better knowing that."

Lucas only rolled his eyes and Seth jumped into the conversation, "Seriously Mattie? You can just look into mirror and see that you look like your dad." Seth paused for moment, "which of my parents do I look like?"

"Your dad!" Matthew exclaimed, "-and I'm not saying that just to be a jerk. You honestly do."

Seth only shrugged as a response. Lucas flipped to another picture of his parents' wedding. Lucas' mother looked like a princess at the wedding. Matthew was starting to suspect that nothing about the couple's life was less than extravagant. The couple was marrying on a cruise liner in the middle of the ocean. That much Matthew could tell from the picture. "My dad was considered a trophy husband since mom earned more than him." Lucas stated, flipping to the next picture showing Lucas' mother with a noticeable stomach bulge, eating a box of truffles in front of her husband. Lucas' father felt his wife's pregnant belly as his wife bit into the creamy milk chocolate. "Dad didn't know that mom was diabetic until I was born. A doctor told him. She kept it a secret from him, because she knew he would try to control what she ate if she disclosed her illness to him and mom couldn't give up her chocolate addiction."

Matthew heard the hurt in Lucas voice and disclosed a fact about his own parents. "My parents married when they were in early twenties as well. They were high school sweethearts who wanted to take their relationship to the next level or something."

"My dad wasn't in his early twenties. He was twenty seven when he married mom," Lucas corrected.

"My parents married when they were only sixteen when mom was six months pregnant with me," Seth announced. "Their families pressured them to get married, because of me."

"Really? That's odd . . ." Matthew really did not know how to respond to that. Seth's father was the vilest thing to come out of Park 'N Flush. He could've divorced Seth's mom at any time. Even at ten years old, Matthew knew of that wretched man's reason for sticking around, making Seth's, Seth's Mom's, and even Roy's lives a living hell in the process. Without the money Roy made each month from being a Vietnam veteran and the money Seth's mom brings in, Seth's father's alcohol fund would cease to be. There were times where Matthew wanted to gut that man like a fish, but held back on the thought. Matthew even wondered if he was subconsciously trying to go after Seth's father that night he had a run-in with Roy.

Lucas went back to the pictures wordlessly and revealed the next picture of his mom holding him as a baby. Lucas was surprisingly a large, chunky baby in stark contrast to the small child that stood in front of Matthew in the garage. Lucas' mom wore a white sundress, sandals, and straw hat and had Lucas wear a little sailor outfit.

The next picture to be shown was Lucas' mother dressed in black. The woman's corpse barely looked like a corpse at all. The woman looked as beautiful in death as she did in life, though funeral parlor makeup could do that. The white coffin she was placed in was as posh as the short life that the woman had lived. Matthew could tell that a funeral parlor took extra care to glue a bunch of seashells to the white marble exterior of the coffin. Hibiscus flowers were placed inside of the coffin. Lucas' mom even wore fine jewelry at her funeral. Lucas' mom seemed to have received a funeral and burial fit for a queen. Even in the present, Matthew found it so bizarre that Lucas carried a picture of his mom's corpse in his wallet.

"Where the hell is Pipsqueak?" Matthew looked around.

"I don't know. I thought you were watching him!" Lucas retorted, putting his mom's pictures back into his wallet.

"Matthew, for love of God, you were supposed to be watching him," Seth scolded and went to look for Eddy. That little ankle-biter was trying his patience. It was like Eddy was begging Matthew to hit him in front of his friends. Luckily they didn't have to look very far. Eddy was wobbling towards a quarter in the middle of their yard. Suddenly, a bird swooped down and grabbed the quarter that Eddy was reaching for. The two year old sobbed at the loss.

Matthew stomped past Lucas and Seth towards his little brother. He wanted to deck the little brat so much. Just one good hit. He'll have to wait to do that though. "A bird grabbed that quarter? Good, I'm glad!" Matthew picked up Eddy by the back of his shirt and put him into a baby swing in the backyard none too gently.

"Matthew, do you also hear music?" Lucas asked.

As if he could have missed it. The music was loud enough to be heard from a block away. One of the neighbors seemed to have thrown a party and it sounded like it was coming from the new neighbor's house, "Let's go check it out!" Matthew commanded.


	17. Birthday Crashers

Matthew wondered how differently the present would have been if he did not hear music that day, if he did not attempt to look for Eddy outside, or if he did not let his curiosity dictate his actions that day and investigate the noise. He wondered if he would've been like the rest of the dullards who pretend to be ashamed of their natural urges and act very judgmental over other people owning up to their own sexuality. That's what Matthew hated most about Peach Creek. Most of the residents there jacked off with their left hands in private and pointed with their right hands in public.

Before that day, Matthew did not act on any of his urges. He regarded them as troublesome at best. He was still too traumatized by the rape to allow himself to think anything else about the subject of attraction or sex. That was until he hopped over the fence that day.

"Mattie, we need to have a serious talk over you peeping into people's yards," Seth replied, hanging on the privacy fence by his elbows, similar to a cat hanging off of a tree branch. Matthew sat on the privacy fence and looked around. He couldn't see much from his view, but a homemade sign that said "Happy Birthday, Sasha."

"Let's get a better look," Matthew commanded, and leaped off the fence. Lucas held onto Eddy's arm and tortured the infant by constantly poking him in the head. Eddy shed tears at the treatment and shouted the word "stop" at Lucas repeatedly. Matthew quickly pointed to the backyard and gestured for Lucas to follow him. The music beckoned him like a siren's call. The three walked into Matthew's backyard. Seth picked up Eddy while Matthew and Lucas climbed the fence.

Matthew had gotten a better view once he sat on top of the fence. The scene over the fence was just an ordinary birthday party. There were colorful balloons scattered across the yard. A large birthday banner and streamers decorated the fence across from him. A birthday cake and a stack of presents sat on the table near the banner. Another fold-out table contained snacks and food dishes.

Matthew spotted Sasha in the yard, carrying a two year whose flaming red hair was to the middle of the toddler's neck and was spinning around the jovial toddler. The birthday party was for Sasha Barr. "Oh look, Sasha's having a party with all of his friends!" Matthew jeered cruelly.

"Yeah!" Lucas agreed with him, "Sasha can only get a two year old to agree to attend his birthday party. How sad!"

Sasha stiffened when he heard them and turned toward the fence, "Oh no! Oh dear god no! Why the heck are you on my aunt and uncle's fence? Go home!"

"I am home. I live next door," Matthew answered, "so when did your aunt and uncle move next door?"

"Where the hell have you been? My aunt and uncle moved here in the middle of July. Supposedly, they moved in several weeks after some family moved into the blue house on the corner." Sasha informed them, glaring up at Matthew. Cocky little shit.

"I just got back from summer camp a day ago," Matthew shrugged.

"Summer camp? Don't you mean boot camp? I'm not that much of an idiot to believe that a summer camp would handle you for two months," Sasha sat the toddler into a small inflatable pool and hurried towards the fence. "Get off my aunt and uncle's fence!" Sasha pushed on the fence.

Matthew scowled, that goodie two-shoed asshole was trying to throw them off the fence! "Sure, we'll get off of the fence." Matthew pushed Lucas off of the fence onto Sasha and jumped off into the neighbor's yard. The two boys beside him groaned from the impact of the fall. Dirt covered Sasha's glasses as he was crushed under Lucas' weight.

The two year old was staring at him with wide eyes and shook in his presence. Behind him, he heard Sasha's strained voice scream at him, "Don't you dare hurt my little 'cuz Kevin!"

"Your cousin?" Matthew turned with a deviant grin. Sasha was struggling to escape the hold Lucas had on him, "I could've confused that little ankle biter for being your brother."

"Maybe the Barr family is so inbred that they look alike," Lucas laughed.

"No!" Matthew heard a small voice cry shrilly. He smirked and advanced menacingly towards Kevin. The two year old charged straight at him and pushed at him with all of his might. "You little shit!" Matthew grabbed Kevin by the arm, "I'll teach you to have some fucking respect for big kids!"

Sasha repeatedly shouted at Matthew, but Matthew ignored him. Matthew jerked Kevin towards the swimming pool. Once he reached the pool, Matthew grabbed Kevin by the back of his neck and dunked the two year old boy's head in the pool water. The two year old struggled under the foot of water in the pool.

Matthew eventually heard Lucas cry out that Sasha kicked his `private area.' Sasha pulled Matthew away from his cousin several seconds later. He came face-to-face with the red head. Sasha stared daggers at him. His green eyes were full of hate. Matthew liked that look though at the time, he couldn't understand why he liked that look on Sasha so much. "You psycho dork! You could've killed him!" Sasha panted, trying to catch his breath. Sasha's chest rose and fell as he tried to control his breathing. Matthew noticed the freckles that covered Sasha's shoulders and pressed his thumb against Sasha's skin to feel the light-brown spots under his touch.

He was snapped out of his trance when Sasha jerked away from him. Seth came into the yard, carrying Eddy on his hip when the situation started to calm down. Eddy was chugging down juice from a clear sippy cup. "Really Seth?"

"What? Your little bro was thirsty," Seth replied, setting Eddy down. "So what did I miss?"

"Nothing," Sasha muttered and grabbed up Kevin, patting the child's back to calm him down. Kevin coughed and sputtered as he wailed again Sasha's shoulder.

Seth shrugged and headed to the food table. He dipped a chip into the salsa bowl and popped the chip into his mouth. "You know, this salsa is to die for! Hope you mind us hanging around a bit." Seth said, quickly chewing and swallowing the chip in his mouth.

"Sure, why not? I love entertaining three dorks that screwed up a couple of my Halloweens and are now wrecking my birthday party," Sasha replied sarcastically.

Seth shrugged and began to help himself to the snacks on the table. Lucas approached the cassette player and stuck his tongue out at the electronic device, "man, you have awful tastes in music!"

Matthew sat at the present table and started ripping the wrapping paper from one of the boxes. "Hey, those are mine!" Sasha complained.

"Well, let's see what we got, shall we? By `we,' I mean `me!'" Matthew finished unwrapping the gift, "A red baseball hat and a jawbreaker from your aunt and uncle? You can keep the jawbreaker." Matthew shoved the large jawbreaker at Sasha and put on the red cap sideways. "How do I look?"

"-Like a birthday present thief!" Sasha growled, setting Kevin down to play and popping the jawbreaker into his own mouth. Sasha removed his glasses for a brief moment to clean them.

Matthew suddenly heard the back door open and close. At first he thought that it was grownups until he heard a soft, mousy feminine voice speak. "Sorry I took so long, Sasha," Misty apologized, "I had a bit of trouble in the bathroom that I have no idea what happened. I think I took care of it. Are you sure this swimsuit doesn't show too much? I mean, I'm grateful your aunt let me wear her suit, but-" Misty's voice trailed off for a second, "Wait, I didn't know you were expecting more guests."

Matthew jaw almost dropped at the sight of Misty. The red two piece bikini swimsuit hugged her developing body. He felt an unknown sensation come over him that he never felt before. He wanted to run his hands over her breasts and feel the milky white skin there. His palms were sweating and he could not take his eyes off of her for a second. Misty tried to cover her breasts and stomach to shield herself from from his eyesight and his friends, but it was much too late. He had seen her and the feelings he had for her grew even more intense. He had to get her alone.

He looked around at the other boys and scowled. Seth and Lucas seemed so disinterested in seeing Misty in a bikini. It was as if she was just one of the boys in their eyes. He turned to look at Sasha. Sasha looked at Misty like a brother more than anything. It was like he was the only one who saw her as a girl. `Maybe that isn't so bad, after all.' The thought suddenly emerged from his head.

"Neither was I," Sasha replied, "those dorks crashed my party."

"Well, we can to make peace with them while they're here," Misty suggested.

"If you can get those buttheads to act like decent human beings, sure," Sasha agreed in defeat.

Misty approached Matthew, "please, can you try to get along with Sasha while you're here, Matthew?" Misty begged, "It's his birthday and he's my best friend. Pretty please, Matthew!"

"Like Mattie is going to listen to some sissy girl!" Lucas argued with the sideline.

"Whatever you say, toots," Matthew replied quickly, almost swooning at the way Misty smelled. She smelled like lavender and vanilla. It might have been the soap she used that day or his own hormones working themselves into overdrive over her feminine scent, but he knew that he would have gave her whatever she wanted. Even at ten years old he was a slave to his own desires, but at least he had the balls to admit it. He would always be lust's bitch boy and takes pride of it in the present.

With the self-appointed leader of the trio under Misty's influence, the three agreed to behave themselves. Seth shrugged and stated that he didn't care as long as he could enjoy the free food. Lucas looked like he wanted to rebel against him, but Matthew shot Lucas a look that warned him not to ruin his chance with Misty.

The five of them surprising were able to hang out with each other without any arguments, which was a rare moment. They sat at one of the picnic tables that were set up for guests and eat without any problem. Misty and Sasha discussed Roald Dahl books for what seemed like twenty minutes. Matthew just remained quiet, waiting for his chance to strike. Misty seemed like quite an avid reader. At school, Matthew would always catch her heading into the library after school.

"So when are your parents and aunt and uncle getting back?" Misty asked.

"They're heading to the city to pick up my birthday gift so they can be back at any time," Sasha stated, "I'm getting a replica Freddy hand." Sasha made a clawing gesture to indicate that he was receiving a collectable from the Nightmare on Elm Street movie franchise. "It's going to be totally bitchin'."

"Oh goodness." Misty exclaimed, jokingly, "I would be afraid of having something like that in my room. It could come to life in the middle of the night like the hand from the Addams Family and grab me up."

"That's what the fire pit in my background is for," Sasha joked, "no creepy hands are coming to life on my watch!"

Matthew groaned internally when Misty was pulled away by both Kevin and Eddy. How long did he need to wait to get her alone? Both of the toddlers were fighting for her individual attention as kids do whenever there was an adult or an older kid that they wanted to impress. Eddy was trying to scam her into giving him a quarter while Kevin wanted to show her how well he rode the red tricycle he had.

Matthew saw an opportunity and approached her, "You know, one of those kids is my baby bro. His name is Eddy," Matthew boasted.

"Oh, you mean this one?" Misty picked up Eddy and bounced him in her arms, "he's so tiny for a toddler."

"Yeah," Matthew replied, awkwardly. "Hey, I have something to show you. It's behind the shed. I'm sure Pipsqueak would be alright for a couple of minutes."

"Uh, okay," Misty set down Eddy, "I'll be back in a couple of minutes little one." She waved to Eddy as she headed behind the shed with Matthew following behind her, almost not believing his luck. Lucas and Seth both were distracting Sasha. Lucas was asking Sasha why his party didn't have a petting zoo and wasn't at an arcade or an amusement park. Seth was trying to get the recipe for the dip at Sasha's party.

"So what is it that you wanted to show me?" Misty asked curiously, looking around and then back to Matthew.

"This," Matthew replied. He gently grabbed her delicate shoulders and pressed his chapped lips against her smooth ones. Her squeak of surprise was muffled by his lips caressing her own. He gently pressed her against the shed. Their legs intertwined and Matthew reveled in finally being able to kiss her. He didn't want his lips to leave hers and wanted to go further with her. "H-have you kissed another boy before?" Matthew asked her, pulling away to catch his breath. He did not care one way or another, but he was curious.

"No," Misty answered, just as breathless as him. She looked at him with shock and another emotion that Matthew could not decipher at the time. Her eyelids were half-lipped and her lips were puffy and slightly parted from his kisses. He grinned as pressed his lips upon hers once more. When she opened her mouth to try to catch another breath, he slipped his tongue inside her mouth and introduced her to a subject that the kids around school often whispered with each other about in the classrooms in hushed tones and uncontrollable giggles; The subject of French-kissing or "first base." He could never grow tired of doing it. The sheer adrenaline from finally being able to kiss her and the forbidden aspect of doing something that adults might not like made him feel invincible. He could kiss her whenever he wanted and there was nothing the adults, Sasha, Lucas, or Seth could do to prevent him from pursuing Misty.

He suddenly felt a particular wetness on his pant leg where Misty's pelvic region was pressed against his leg. He pulled away to inspect it. He looked down and started to panic. There was blood on his pant leg - Misty's blood. Misty started crying when she seen the blood, "I thought I – I thought I bandaged that. I'm going to bleed to death! What's going on with me?"


	18. It's a Girl and Guy Thing

Matthew panicked. He didn't know how to stop the bleeding anymore than Misty did. He needed help, but he did not know who to turn to. Misty was sobbing next to him, fearful of her own life. The only thing he could think of was to call 9-1-1 from his house and hope they would be able help her. "Hey, Misty, are you hurting anywhere?"

"Just my stomach," Misty sniffled.

A terrifying thought entered his head. Misty's innards could've been bleeding out from an internal wound and she was dying in front of him. Matthew pulled her out from behind the shed and took a brief look at the other boys before he moved across the yard. Sasha and Lucas were arguing over the songs on Sasha's radio. "I don't care how much you hate Madonna or Prince; I'm not taking out my mix tape, so get over yourself!" Sasha noticed Matthew and Misty coming out from behind the shed and balled up his small hands into fists, "What did you do to her, you nutcase? Why the hell is she bleeding?"

"I don't know, you dweeb," Matthew shot back, leading Misty across the yard.

"I've been bleeding since I first got changed in the bathroom," Misty told Sasha, hurriedly. She turned to Matthew, "where are you taking me?"

"My house," Matthew replied. It was the only place where he had access to a phone. He led her around the fence and into his yard. By the luck of circumstance, his mom pulled into the driveway. His mom parked outside of the garage and got out of the car. "Mom!" He shouted for his mom like she was their last hope.

"Matthew, why are you screaming? What's wrong, dear? Where are Eddy and your friends?" His mother asked.

"They're next door! Misty needs your help more than anything! She's bleeding and we need to call 9-1-1!" Matthew yelled, frantically. Matthew mom looked alarmed by the information until she assessed Misty's condition and started laughing. Matthew's jaw dropped. Misty was bleeding and that's how his mom reacted? "Mom! This is serious! She's bleeding!"

"Honey, come inside with your little friend and we'll talk about it." His mom replied, calmly, ruffling the new red cap on his head. Matthew and Misty followed her inside. Misty was quiet throughout the whole ordeal, but Matthew could tell that the girl was frightened.

His mom led Misty straight to the downstairs bathroom, with Matthew following behind them, and pulled out a dark blue towel from the towel rack. "Get cleaned up, dear, and call for me once you get done." Matthew was pulled away from the bathroom by his elbow. "Give your friend her privacy. I'm going to let her have a pair of my old clothes since her clothes are probably bloody."

"What's wrong with her? Is she going to be alright?" Matthew asked with naïve concern.

His mom smiled at him, "your friend is going to be just fine. What's going on with her will pass in about week."

"What? She's going to bleed for a whole week?" Matthew gawked at his mom. How is someone able to bleed for a whole week and walk away from it like nothing had happened?

Margaret sighed, "Looks like I'm probably going to have to have this talk with you sooner than I wanted to. Look, your friend is becoming a woman. Most girls go through the same situation as her, but she started a bit sooner than other girls. Her body is preparing itself for the day in which she would decide to one day has children, if and when that happens. Her body is just changing. She'll bleed out of her lady place each month in which she'll need to wear special feminine things to prevent her from bleeding onto her clothes until she becomes an old woman. Understand?" Matthew nodded, wanting the conversation on the awkward subject to be over with. Just as he was about to head out the door, his mother stopped him, "Sweetie, you're going to need to change your pants."

Matthew looked down and seen a medium-sized blood stain on his jeans. "I will, thanks Mom." He replied, meekly. He hoped his mom did not ask him about how the blood stain got on his pants. He walked towards the downstairs bathroom, but was stopped by his own mother.

"You don't need to be in there while she's in there." His mom scolded, sternly, pulling him away from the door. "Go upstairs and get changed. Before that, go get Eddy and bring him back home. I'll take care of your little friend after she gets done in the shower. Now shoo!"

Matthew sneered and obeyed his mother's wishes. Sasha, Seth, and Lucas were waiting for him to give them the news on Misty. Matthew avoided going into too much detail what was going on with Misty by explaining the ordeal as "just a girl thing" and telling them that Misty would be fine. He grabbed up Eddy and carried him home. He quickly handed Eddy to his mom and headed upstairs.

As Matthew stripped off his pants, a sensation started to make itself known as his thoughts drifted to Misty using the shower at his house and to the kiss they shared behind the shed. Misty condition did not deter him from viewing that moment as pleasurable or deterred him from wanting to kiss her over and over again. Pleasure pooled from his lower navel down to his unmentionables. He cursed when that area of his body became extremely sensitive again and stiffened, rubbing against the fabric of his underwear.

This had to be some kind of twisted nightmare. Ted had to have done something to him while he hurt him. There was no other explanation for what was happening. Touching it just made it worse. It took a few more experimental touches when he decided that he reluctantly liked the new strange feeling that made him weak in the knees and made him moan like he was getting hurt. The next minutes were spent exploring these new feelings until his slow even breathing quickly became quick gasps, his toes curled, and he started to see white. After the odd situation was over, he laid a boneless mess on his bedroom floor, exhausted like he had just come out of gym class. He lifted his hand up and examined it. It was the same exact substance he produced at the state hospital and at Ted's. He wiped off his hand on the carpet.

He needed help, but he did not know who to turn to. What if what was happening to him was like a vampire's curse that was passed along to him when he was molested and he was slowly turning into monster like Ted? Cold sweat dripped down his neck at the thought. If he went to his parents, they would know that he went against their wishes and visited that awful house, especially if what was wrong with him had anything to with what Ted had done. The only adult he could think of to ask was Roy, but he would need to wait until tomorrow. If he left right away, his mom would get suspicious.

He lifted himself from the floor and quickly changed his pants and underwear. When he gotten dressed, he hurried downstairs and was informed that Misty went back to Sasha's party. He headed back to the party while his mom headed into the backyard with Eddy to keep an eye on the kids next door. His mother had Misty wear red and white polka-dotted top and black pedal-pushers. At the party, Misty kept her distance from him, keeping close to Sasha. What's with her? She would only spare him a few glances and turn away quickly when he caught her staring.

Matthew balled his fists when he caught Misty dancing with Sasha to the song "I Surrender" by Samantha Fox. His thoughts of kicking Sasha's ass were interrupted by Seth. "Chill, dude," Seth whispered, "Sasha is as gay as they come. There's no reason to spaz out over Misty dancing with someone who would be more interested in dating you than Misty. Besides, it's the year 1989. There's no reason to spend the last year in the eighties in a funk."

"Shut up, Seth," Matthew whispered back, sourly. It was as if Misty was afraid of him impregnating her by just being around him. If what Seth said was true, does Misty know about it too and choose to stick close to a guy who would rather treat her like a younger sister than as the woman she was becoming? The thought didn't help him any.

The party continued when Sasha's parents and aunt and uncle returned. Sasha's and Kevin's dads look almost identical to one another. They almost looked like twins to the ten year old, despite Sasha's dad being older by five years from what Matthew learned at the party. At least their moms looked different. Kevin's mom was a waifish red-haired woman who dressed like how the character Sandy dressed at the end of the movie Grease. Only two words crossed Matthew's mind when he seen her; Biker chick. Sasha's mom, in comparison was a strawberry-blonde woman who looked like the average non-imposing suburban housewife. The party went along with Sasha getting his beloved "Freddy hand" and the adults chattering on about sports.

Eventually Misty's parents showed up to pick her up. Misty's father was an obese man in a white button-up shirt and grey slacks. Misty's dad's skin looked flushed as if he ran a mile. The only thing that Misty got from said man was her dark colored hair. Misty resembled her heavyset mom who had curly blond hair, blue eyes, a handsome face, and breasts that looked to be the same size as melons. From what Matthew learned what he eavesdropped on the conversation Misty had with her parents, Misty's parents were college professors. Misty's dad taught sociology, a word Matthew did not even hear before that day, while Misty's mom taught chemistry. After Matthew's mom came next door to pull Misty's parents aside, presumably to talk about Misty's bleeding issue, the couple took their daughter home after waving Sasha's parents goodbye and thanking them for having their daughter over. The party ended a half hour after Misty had left.

The next day after breakfast, Matthew showed up to Roy's bomb shelter in Seth's backyard. The bomb shelter looked like a cellar with a steel door until Matthew walked down and seen the rounded walls and ceiling. It looked like Roy was living in a pipe. The room contained guns and other weapons almost in every corner of the room. Giant cans of economy beans sat on metallic shelves in the room. Giant stacks of porn magazines sat on another metallic shelf. Hunted animals such as frogs, rabbits, ducks, and even a wild boar hung from meat hooks underneath an old freezer. Whatever Roy was running from had him living like a mole and armed to the teeth. The room resembled an army bunker more than it resembled a cozy place to sleep.

A CB radio and a regular radio were sat on a card table near a cot where Roy laid, polishing a revolver. "Where you followed, kid?" Roy asked.

"No," Matthew replied. "Sorry it took me so long to see you. I had to be sent away all summer due to me spazzing out over what that one person did, but I'm here now."

Roy continued to polish the revolver while Matthew talked, not sparing him a glance, "insane asylums are a joke anyway, kid."

"How did you know? Did that asshole Seth tell you?" Matthew asked.

"No, I've been up and down the American mental health system so many times that I got a sense of who spent time in one and who didn't," Roy replied. "You're here over the offer I gave you, right?"

"Yeah, I want to be trained how to fight." Matthew shouted with assurance, "I won't let anything like that happen to me or let anyone one-up me!"

"You've got quite a bit of spirit," Roy replied, setting down the revolver. "Let's head to a clearing in the woods. If anyone sees me training you, I could get in trouble for hitting a kid."

"I won't say anything." Matthew replied, "Besides I'm tougher than I look!"

Roy nodded silently and led him out of the trailer park to a spot near the woods. The thoughts from yesterday still plagued his thoughts. He had to ask Roy what was going on with him. "Hey Roy? Can I ask you something?"

"What is it, kid?" Roy asked.

Matthew fidgeted around, trying to find the right words to describe what he had been experiencing. He seen that Roy took notice of his nervousness, but remained quiet. After a few minutes of trying to gather his thoughts, he spoke, "I think there's something wrong with me. I think I'm becoming like the guy who molested me."

"What makes you think that," Roy asked, stretching his arms out.

"Yesterday, a girl I knew started her girly bleeding thing and had to use my shower. I went to my room and started to think about what she might look like in the shower. My thing – my dick started rubbing against my pants and I started touching it. After a touching it for about five minutes, I produced this white stuff all over my hands. It happened two times before including the time I was molested."

"It just means that you're normal, kid," Roy replied.

"That's normal?" Matthew asked, dumbfounded, "It wasn't normal for me before!"

Roy shrugged, "you're probably a bit on the younger side for starting that shit, but its normal. Most guys produce semen, the `white stuff' you were talking about when they begin puberty. Everyone goes through it. It started to happen to me when I was around 12 years old. It just means that you now have the body of an adult, but the mind of a child. You are physically capable of producing a kid just like your little girlfriend is capable of getting pregnant, but neither of you are capable of raising one. We guys provide half of the material through our semen. Our semen goes inside of a woman through an act I'll explain in a minute and it sometimes reaches one of their eggs and connects to it. The two then reach the womb where a baby is produced. I'm not the best at describing biology, but that's the gist of what happens."

"So as long as I don't have sex with her, I won't have to worry about another screaming baby at my house – I have a little brother and he gets on my nerves." Matthew stated, remembering what Seth told him about sex.

"You don't have to completely avoid it, but be careful when you do decide to have sex with someone who wants to as much as you do. That actually saves me time from having to explain things about pregnancy and sex." Roy explained, "I didn't sign up to be a Sex-Ed teacher, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Matthew replied, "so what's our first training lesson going to be about?"

"It's going to be pretty much the basics. Knowing what places to protect in case of an attack," Roy educated him, "the best way to remember these attacks is to experience the pain of having these areas attacked. This is your last chance to back out."

"I'm not going to back out!" Matthew hollered, "so stop treating me like a baby!"

"Alright kid," Roy caved, "the first lesson you should take to heart is knowing who your enemies are. The truth of the matter is that you don't who your enemy is. They don't come with a uniform like the Nazis did in World War II or a big flashing sign. They didn't in Vietnam. The members of the Viet Cong army blended themselves with average South Vietnamese citizens. Did that puke stain who molested you wear a Halloween costume?"

"No, he looked normal," Matthew admitted, "but your enemies seemed like major big-name baddies compared to Te- the guy who hurt me. You compared a minor cut to a gaping bullet hole."

"I suppose you haven't heard the term `Achilles' Heel' yet. Everyone has one. That rape might be minor to people who don't know you, but to you, that trauma is going to stick with you for the rest of your life. A guy who got rejected by his longtime crush would consider that to be as traumatic as getting molested is to you. This isn't the Trauma Olympics. I'm using a comparison to help you understand that an enemy can be anybody."

"Oh, okay," Matthew nodded, eagerly, soaking up the whole lesson. "How did you know when and where to attack if you didn't know who the enemy was?"

"You rely on your gut feeling. If something seems off, get ready to fight against it!" Roy continued. "There are several points on your body that an enemy can hit to get an advantage on you. One of those is the head or face." To demonstrate his point, he slapped Matthew across the face. "The neck." Roy punched Matthew in the neck, causing Matthew to cough from the impact. "The stomach." Matthew felt Roy's fist connect to his stomach next. "The hands and wrists." Matthew felt pressure against the middle of his wrist. Roy dug his nail into Matthew's wrist, under the thumb. Matthew cried out from Roy putting pressure on his wrist. "The kneecaps." Roy brought Matthew to his knees with a swift kick to his knees. Matthew couldn't even read the man's face to know what moves the veteran pulled next. "There's also your crotch, your back, and several other areas of your body that are pressure points which can be used against you."

Matthew bristled and arisen with a scowl darkening his young features, "I wasn't ready!"

"Neither will you be when your enemies strike! That's why you prepare to block anything that comes your way!" Roy retorted as harshly as a drill sergeant would. "We are going to try that again. This time you will attempt to block my attacks." Matthew walked home when his training was over; his whole body was sorer than he ever felt before, but somehow that didn't bother him. If Roy's brutal training made him an unstoppable machine, he would go through hell and back just to become a force to be reckoned with. One thing crossed his mind while he limped home. The mystery of why Roy wore that brown cap on his head all of the time.

&amp;%&amp;%&amp;%%&amp;%&amp;

Matthew scowled in his cell when he heard a guard play a dance song from the 1980s about the Vietnam War on the radio. Part of the song sounded a news report or a Vietnam War documentary segment about Vietnam veterans and PTSD and ended with the message that many men were still fighting Vietnam War after coming home. "Shut that goddamn thing off!" Matthew shouted, his blood pressure rising.

A/N: Go check out the Archive of Our Own version of the previous chapter for another Clockwork Bro related art and the latest chapter of Two Eds and an Ex-con on AO for related artwork on that fanfic.


	19. Too Weak

Roy's death was not a sudden unexpected event. It was a slow-acting poison that begun once Roy begun his duty in the Vietnam War. Outwardly, Roy appeared fine, but most deadly diseases attack a person from within. During the three years that Matthew trained under Roy, he noticed some signs that did not seem right to Matthew's somewhat naïve mind at the time, but he could've never known that Roy would not be there for him for very long. One of those times happened just months after Roy first offered to train him.

It was the beginning of autumn during the beginning of the school year when Matthew first encountered an incentive to keep training with Roy. Matthew angrily stumbled all the way to Park 'N Flush. The particular day was not a good one for him. He was beaten up at school – twice. The first time was at the hands of Darcy during lunch period. The second time was at hands of three high school students after school.

Of course, his two useless asshole friends ended up in detention for the day. Seth's only crime was walking into school wearing a `Sisters of Mercy' tee shirt. Lucas also ended up in detention for a day for wearing a Pet Shop Boys shirt along with Stacy who wore a Madonna shirt and Stacy's best friend who wore a Cyndi Lauper shirt. Even the teacher's pet, Sasha, ended up in detention for wearing a Dungeons and Dragons shirt. That day, a quarter of the whole class was in detention. If Matthew knew how easy it would be to get detention that day, he would've bought a Twisted Sister shirt to wear for the occasion.

The school came out with a strange rule regarding students not wearing band shirts on school property that was later lifted a year later, exactly a year after it was first enforced. The thought process behind the rule was that the kids and teens who wore them were either a part of a gang or were distracting to peers just from wearing them. Matthew figured it was a late reaction to the music controversy of the mid-1980s where certain groups' music was deemed questionable by a censorship community. Rather than do basic research, the school would rather ban all screened shirts.

Without his friends, he was at the mercy of Darcy and then the three goons that were harassing Misty outside of school. The beating he got from the three high school students was worst than what Darcy could dish out.

He was outside of the Loverings' trailer when he heard Seth's dad, Derrick, ranting and raving as he usually did after several drinks too many. Only this time, Roy was the recipient of Derrick's wrath. Roy held a small Sisters of Mercy shirt in his clutches, preventing Derrick from getting a hold of it. "Give me the goddamn shirt, Roy! I'm about to burn the son of a bitch! I had to drive all the way to the fucking school to pick him up over that stupid thing!"

"It's not the poor boy's fault the school made up a new rule a week before school started." Roy sneered, "You act like you want an award for doing the bare minimum for your son. God forbid if you actually have to act like a father once in a while instead of a sperm donor that stuck around for free booze. Thank God Joyce took Seth to our cousin's for a while. You can't even keep your goddamn hands off of them and treat them right!"

Matthew could tell that Roy's words to Derrick struck the man harder than any physical blow. Derrick got into Roy's face and grabbed the sleeve of the man's tank shirt. "You want to get your fucking ass kicked today, Roy? That slut I'm married to can't save you if I decided to throw you in the nuthouse again!" The next moment happened too fast for Matthew to react immediately. Roy received a blow to the nose by Derrick. Roy barely reacted to the punch and scrunched his face slightly, letting blood trickle from his nose. His eyes never averted away from the abusive drunken man in front of him.

Matthew had enough of seeing that tyrant abusing a couple of the very few people that he liked. He dug his feet into the ground and charged at the man. He heard both Derrick and Roy yelling at him, but he couldn't hear what either man said. He was able to block a few of the blows Derrick swung at him until he felt an intense pain coming from a blow to the head. His world had gotten dark after the blow.

He had awoken groggily on an uncomfortable cot. An ice pack fell from his head when he turned his head to the side. The sight of metal walls met his peripheral vision. He turned his body to the other side to get a better look at them. He definitely was in Roy's bomb shelter. Being inside of the bomb shelter was like being inside the combination of an army bunker and a giant can. There were even a few times when Matthew would mistakenly refer to the area as an army bunker.

He looked down at himself. Everything seemed as normal as it could in his current situation. He was patched up from the various wounds that the antagonistic high school students caused him earlier that day. It made no sense to him why Roy would go through all of the trouble to carry his unconscious body to the bomb shelter and tend to him.

He looked around Roy's living quarters and found boxes of Seth's belongings scattered around, including the drum set Lucas gave him. Matthew remembered Derrick's threats about destroying Seth's shirt and put two and two together. Derrick was threatening to destroy Seth's other belongings as well. What kind of arrogant prick destroys a child's belongings?

Roy was hovering around the radio in his living quarters with his nose bandaged up. Matthew remembered Roy telling him how the radio can be used to pick up some kind of strange code that communist spies use to communicate with each other. The only thing Matthew ever got from randomly browsing radio stations is static, a baseball game, an easy listening station, a pop station, and a country station. No hidden messages. Roy was listening to one of Seth's cassettes. A gloomy distorted tune played coupled with a male singer's gritty, masculine voice on the radio. Occasionally the song switched to a female co-singer's singing voice. "I don't understand what Seth sees in this stuff."

Seth did change a bit since Lucas and Seth visited that music store in the city while Matthew, himself, was in the psych ward during most of the summer break. Since he got back, the various tattoos people from the city wore and certain bands like Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Siouxie and the Banshees, and Echo and The Bunnymen were frequent discussion topics Seth wanted to discuss with him. Lucas called it a "gloom and doom bastardization of new wave," Matthew called it annoying.

"Roy?" Matthew croaked, groggily.

Roy turned the music off and headed towards him. Roy took out a flashlight from the nightstand and flashed the light into Matthew's eyes like a doctor, "you alright, kid?"

"I will be when that bastard who knocked me out gets the crap kicked out of him," Matthew growled.

Roy raised an eyebrow and shut the flashlight off, putting the tool on top of the nightstand. "You are a complete idiot if you attempt to fight Derrick in your condition. Someone already beat the shit out of you before Derrick even clocked you out."

"It's all your fault!" Matthew hollered, "If you would've trained me better, I would've taken down Seth's dad in a snap! You're the war hero, but you let that fucker punch you. Why?"

"Kid, are you deaf? I told you that once you defeat me in a fight, you would've mastered your training. Right now, the only thing you've mastered is how to block some punches. As for why I didn't fight Derrick, there are some battles not worth fighting. This place might not look like much, but it's a safe place for Seth to come to when his dad is getting more violent than he usually does. If I fought against him, he would throw me into the crazy house and no one would be there to help Joyce or Seth." Roy took a drink out of some foul-smelling liquid inside of a jam jar that was near the flashlight. "If they weren't constantly in danger, I would've said `to hell with it' and leave everyone behind."

"I don't think skipping town is going to solve anything," Matthew replied, naively, "I got beat up three times today. One by Seth's asshole dad, once by a kid at my school, and once by three high school buttholes! How was I supposed to know that Darcy the Jackass took fighting lessons too?"

"How is it my fault that you got beat up by a kid who took Karate lessons at a McDojo?" Roy asked.

"It wasn't karate lessons, he took boxing lessons," Matthew replied.

"You got beat by a kid who only had experience punching a punching bag, not much of an improvement. You still need training." Roy stated. "How the fuck did you manage to get on the bad side of three high school punks?"

"They were trying to take Misty's skirt off, the girl that visited my house that one time, outside of the school. I stopped them and they beat me up for it. The teachers are not going to believe me if I were to tell them what I saw. The cops probably won't either."

"The cops around here don't have the brains that God gave a newborn baby." Roy snorted, "They didn't do shit when I reported Derrick for spousal abuse after Seth was born. Why listen to the certified crazy guy under the stairs when the alcoholic sociopath with anger issues and no prior record insists that it was all in my head?"

Matthew remained quiet. He was sympathetic towards the man in front of him. He too felt like misjudged by teachers and what Matthew considered to be the entire world at the time. Whenever he did something at school and was caught, the detentions and in-school suspensions would pile up like a house of cards. Whenever someone like Darcy did something, the school turned a blind eye. He was considered a bad apple while Darcy was the school's golden boy.

"Uh, Roy," Matthew spoke up.

"What kid?" Roy asked.

"I still want to be trained by you," Matthew declared. "I'm tired of being so weak."

Roy sighed, "What happened after you were molested? Did the creep leave you after he got his fill or did you escape him?"

"I escaped him," Matthew answered. "He told me that – that I was going to his little wife and I – I would be – That he would do that to me every single day and it would happen several times a day. He told that while he molested me. It already hurt too badly. I did not want it to happen again!" Matthew left out the part where Seth was able to get out of his binds first and helped get the four children escape out of situation, but he would not tell Roy that he was not the only kid there, especially considering that one of the kids was Roy's own nephew.

"Sorry that happened to you, kid. Look, you had a motive to escape and took it. The same can be applied to fighting. When you have a good motive to get the upper hand, it's just the start of defeating your opponent. After that, you would need to make a quick plan on how you are able to defeat your opponent. You rush into fights without thinking and that is how you got defeated." Roy explained. "Perhaps that would be our next lesson, once you take a few days off to rest."

Matthew groaned, "Seriously?"

"Yes, it's not going to kill you to let your body rest," Roy replied.

"Fine," Matthew pouted at Roy. The mystery of the brown cap was starting to irritate him again. The brown cap tempted Matthew to remove it from Roy's head to see exactly what was underneath it. "What's under your cap? You never take it off."

Roy's hand instinctively brushed over the front of the cap, causing Matthew's suspicions to be raised about what Roy was hiding. "It's none of your business, you nosey kid!"

"C'mon! Just tell me!" Matthew demanded, "Also, I have a name. It's Matthew!"

"I'm not going to tell you," Then Roy added with a playful grin, "-so quit asking, kid!"

"You jerk!" Matthew shot back, half-heartedly. Then he noticed the time from the clock on the wall. "Crap, I should be heading home. I'll catch you later, Roy." Matthew jumped out of bed and headed towards the stairs of the room.

"Come back when you're feeling better, kid," Roy waved.


	20. Figuring Out Misty

His princess was an obsession to him. Being in his cell was similar to being cryogenically frozen or putting a movie on pause for an extremely long time; Time passed him by, but his emotions and maturity remained the same. He was taken away from his princess, but he will see Edd again once he gets released. What would his princess look like as an adult? The thought of an adult Edd aroused Matthew greatly. More importantly, how experienced would his princess be in the sack once he is released?

Unfortunately, he is unable to prevent Edd from forming sexual relations with others, especially his own fucking brother. The thought burned him with envy, but Roy's words to him while Roy was still alive helped him put the situation into perspective; _"Kid, a lover with some experience is a good thing. It's even better when they have as much partners as a professional whore. They can do things to you that you can barely imagine. -And if they choose you over any other guy, it's a great ego boost, I'm telling you."_

Roy boasted about his past sexual encounters, drug use, and his time in Vietnam – at least the parts Roy can remember. It often happened when Roy had a few too many drinks of moonshine or starting hitting a blunt. Matthew soaked up all of the information like an eager pupil. Hearing Roy's experience during the Vietnam War was better than sitting during a history lecture from his fourth grade teacher. The time Roy gave Matthew that particular advice; Matthew was having a problem involving Misty.

Matthew stalked Sasha and Misty to Sasha's house. Matthew's advances towards the obsidian-haired girl got rebuffed and Matthew wanted to know why he was rejected. He decided to follow them to receive some answers to his question by observing their interaction with each other after school. Matthew took his place by the lilac bush and watched them. Sasha still sported the bruises Matthew gave him during lunch period. It was worth getting detention for.

Sasha and Misty played a round of Dungeons &amp; Dragons on Sasha's bed, which Matthew found extremely uninteresting. Why did geeks even found that game entertaining in the first place? Several game pieces were placed onto the board. Misty and Sasha each took turns to roll a ten-sided dice to move their pieces around on the board. Two pieces of paper which Sasha referred to as "character sheets" sat in front of both children. Sasha was also the "dungeon master" of the game. To Matthew, the game seemed like any other boring board game, except for when the dungeon master would use their imagination throughout the game.

Just as Matthew started to nod off, Sasha and Misty watched a movie which was paused by Misty when she noticed something wrong with Sasha, "what's wrong, Sasha."

"I honestly don't know," Sasha sighed. "You ever get the feeling that you really like somebody that you really shouldn't like?"

"I think so." Misty nodded, "I've had the same feeling as well."

"Can I try something, Misty? You don't have to do this with me if you don't want to, but I wanted to be sure of something," Sasha explained, awkwardly.

"If you're talking about kissing me, sure," Misty nodded. "I'm shocked you would ask that of me, but go ahead. I need to make sure of something too."

"Okay," Sasha was rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. His face lingered close to Misty's. Matthew's gut was starting to do somersaults from the sight. Matthew had the intense desire to put Sasha in the hospital, lock Misty in his bedroom where she couldn't kiss anyone else, and punch Lucas and Seth in the face for telling him that Sasha would never put the moves on Misty. Sasha was lucky that Matthew was afraid of ending up in jail, otherwise he would've done something to stop them.

Matthew's scowl deepened when Sasha kissed Misty on the cheek and then on those pale pink lips. Then Sasha and Misty pulled away from the kiss looking as though both of them had consumed something unpleasant tasting. Matthew never seen anything like that from two people locking lips, but he was too livid to think about it.

"Oh God!" Misty cried out, hiding her face in her hands.

Sasha had a guilty expression on his face, "I'm really, really sorry, Misty! I should not have reacted like that. There's something seriously wrong with me!"

"No, it's my fault! You treat me nice, but I don't like you as a possible boyfriend. I like you as a brother." Misty cried, fretfully, "I like someone in a boyfriend kind of way that I shouldn't!" Misty nervously reached into her own book bag and pulled out a candy bar and swiftly consumed it.

"I think of you as a sister too," Sasha replied, patting her on the shoulder, "tell you what, I'll tell you what kind of person I like if you tell me who you like."

"Okay," Misty nodded timidly. The suspense was killing Matthew. Who did Misty really like in a romantic way? Matthew was ready to pummel whoever Misty had eyes for. Matthew was also curious on what Sasha considered attractive.

Sasha sighed anxiously and rubbed the back of his neck, "I like other boys." Sasha noticed Misty's silence and repeated himself, "I like other boys! I think Prince has a smokin' bod! Billy Idol is so good-looking that I can't take my eyes off the screen when he's on and if the guy who sings `Tainted Love' wanted to go out with me, I would say `yes' in a heartbeat. My life is over! Nobody at school is going to accept me for who I am. Not that they did in the first place."

"Your life's not over. I don't mind that you like boys." Misty responded just barely audible to Matthew outside. "You're just gay, someone who likes other boys and you're still the same person to me. My dad has a gay couple in his classroom and they seem like nice people."

There was a time-consuming pause before Sasha spoke again, "Thanks Misty, you're a good friend."

"No problem," Misty smiled.

"So who's this person that you like?" Sasha asked.

The smile was vanquished from Misty's face, "you don't want to know."

"C'mon, I told you who I liked." Sasha egged her on, "tell me! I know it's not Darcy or his lame friends. I know it's not me. Is it Seth? Is it Lucas or our teacher?"

"It's neither of them," Misty answered.

Sasha frowned in confusion, "who is it then?"

"Promise you won't get mad," Misty looked Sasha dead in the eye.

Sasha nodded, "I promise."

"It's the person who did this to you," Misty gingerly pointed to the bruise on Sasha's face. She quickly averted her eyes before Sasha could react.

"Matthew McGee? That slime ball? You're kidding, right?" Sasha exclaimed, "Why?"

"I don't know. He's mean, he keeps touching me in class, and he's the worst person to fall for, but when he kissed me behind the shed at your party, I felt something," Misty explained.

"He actually kissed you? Grody! I'm surprised you didn't get warts on your mouth from kissing that slimy toad!" Sasha joked and then asked seriously, "he touched you? When?"

"In class, he touches my arms, shoulders, and my belly when no one is looking. He also touched my boobs once. I swear, it's almost as if he's trying to push me into having a child with him. Doesn't touching usually lead into something else? That's what my mom said." Misty replied. Matthew was guilty as charged, but Misty never told the teacher on him or screamed at him. However, the thought of having children was a strange notion to Matthew. Was that what Misty thought were his motivations? Matthew was confused on what to do. Misty liked him, but expressed great dislike towards him. It started storming out, but Matthew ignored it.

"What a creep," Sasha shook his head, "I have no idea what touching leads to, so I'm not the guy to ask. Look, liking that – that thing does not make me think any less of you. You're still Misty to me."

"Thanks," Misty said with relief, "what do you want to do? We could listen to some Soft Cell or Billy Idol."

"Ha-ha! I got a better idea. We could get out a phone book and look up the creepazoid you like," Sasha joked back. Misty snorted and went into a laughing fit, followed by Sasha. After their laughing had calmed, Sasha asked Misty, "So what do you want for your eleventh birthday? It's on Monday, right?"

"Yep, I was born on October 16. I don't know what I want for my birthday. Surprise me, Sasha!" Misty shrugged.

Matthew hurried out of the yard when a storm could be heard within the dark grey clouds. Girls, even Misty, were a complete mystery to him. He needed help to understand her. Perhaps Roy could help him out in this situation. By the time he reached Roy's bomb shelter, his clothes were soaked.

Matthew smelt a particular pungent odor coming from outside of the bomb shelter. It kind of smelled like the time his dad ran over a skunk. He headed down the steps where he saw Roy in a defensive stance pointing his shotgun at Matthew with a look that was similar to that of a frightened jungle cat. Behind that intimidating, focused glare was intense fear. Several empty glass jars were scattered along where Roy was crouched. In Roy's mouth was what looked to the ten year old like a lit rolled up cigarette, but he doubted that the object in Roy's mouth was a cigarette due to the powerful stench of the thing.

Cold sweat beaded on his brow. Matthew was uncertain if Roy was going to shoot him, "Roy! Put the damn gun down!"

"Kid?" Roy looked at him funny. Roy couldn't recognize him?

"Yeah, it's me! Put the gun down!" Matthew hollered, his chest rising and falling rapidly. He even swore that he could hear his own heartbeat in that moment. He couldn't even control his own breathing as if he was swimming underwater and took his first breath of fresh air. He quivered at the thought of the possibility that Roy could've shot him.

Matthew let out a gasp of relief when Roy sat his gun out, "were you followed by someone you didn't know?" Roy asked.

"What? No!" Matthew shook his head.

"Sorry kid," Roy apologized sheepishly, "You startled me. Well, the storm startled me before you showed up and I started getting confused."

"What do you mean `confused?'" Matthew asked slowly approaching Roy.

Roy gave him an indescribable look, "I was confused over where the hell I was and thought that Charlie was approaching."

"Who's Charlie?" Matthew asked.

"The people I fought against during the Vietnam War. It's a nickname for the Viet Cong army." Roy explained.

"Oh," Matthew nodded. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Sure," Roy nodded, "after a few blunts, I'll calm my ass down. I stole some weed from Derrick. He blows my entire disability check on booze, so it's only fair. If he doesn't like it, he can kiss my ass!"

"Isn't weed bad for you?" Matthew asked.

"Not anymore than booze is. Besides, it helps me better than half of the shit doctors try to put me on for my so-called PTSD," Roy explained. "So why are you here at this hour? Shouldn't you be having dinner at your house or something?"

"I actually came to talk with you. I need some advice about this girl I like," The words slowly came out in raspy short breaths. Matthew told Roy about Misty and what he witnessed outside of Sasha's window. After Roy heard the whole story, the man just shook his head, "First of all, you need to work on your jealousy issues. The kid she was with was a little queer. Your little girlfriend does not like this Sasha kid in a romantic way, so there's no reason to act like a possessive little shit. It's obvious that she likes you just not your behavior."

"-But Sasha kissed her! She allowed him to kiss her! Why would she allow him to kiss her if she likes me?" Matthew asked, frantically.

"Women, especially girls, want someone that they could be comfortable with. They want some of the same things that men want, but they want to feel secure with the person. If they don't feel safe, forget about getting anywhere with them. You just need to earn her trust first. Just talk to her and know when she is getting uncomfortable. Also, it does not help to find out her interests and use them to get her to agree to talk with you. When I meet a woman a bar, which I still do on occasions, I would have a nice conversation with her. I would subtly drop hints to my attraction towards her and compliment her, and eventually we would agree to go back to her house to have sex." Roy explained, "This Sasha kid makes this girl comfortable and she probably thought that is what she should go after even though she had no attraction towards him."

"How am I supposed to talk to her when I have that image of her kissing Sasha?" Matthew asked.

"Hey, you think any of the women I been with were virgins or haven't been kissed by other dudes? Most of the women I went with were divorcees; they were previously married and some even had kids. You'll get over it." Roy replied, "Just view it in another way. This girl kissed another boy, but she wants you over him. Kid, a lover with some experience is a good thing. It's even better when they have as much partners as a professional whore. They can do things to you that you can barely imagine. -And if they choose you over any other guy, it's a great ego boost, I'm telling you. I doubt this Misty girl has very much experience other than kissing two boys, but you get the idea."

"Just how many women have you been with?" Matthew asked, curiously.

"Too many to count," Roy responded, "I might be old crazy Roy who lives in a bomb shelter, but I still have my charm." Roy goes to a red large photo album from under the cot. He flips to a page in the photo album and shown Matthew the two pages. It was filled from corner to corner with different women. The pictures were relatively tame with the women in the photos either kissing Roy or sitting on his lap, "I like to keep pictures to remember them."

Matthew yanked the photo album from Roy's hand, "What else do you got in here? I bet you have something dirtier than just pictures of you kissing women. You must have something good in here!" Matthew rushed to the other side of the room with his interest piqued on what was Roy's version of a little black book. "Oooh! I need a dirty woman! Oooh I need a dirty girl!" Matthew sang tauntingly as he flipped to a random page. The page he flipped to featured a picture of a topless middle aged Asian woman who smiled at the camera. "I found a dirty picture with boobies! Why are all of your ex-girlfriends older than you? Also, why are there so many women?"

"Give me that, you little pervert!" Roy swiped the album back, "The woman in that photo is Huong, a South Vietnamese woman I had a romantic relationship with when I served in Vietnam. I lost contact with her sometime during the war, I don't remember when or how. God, I hope she didn't end up hurt by Charlie." Roy looked saddened by the photo, but shut the album and answered Matthew's questions, "I have a thing for older women and I've got Kanker blood in me, so being a horn ball comes naturally. My ancestor, Lord Kanker, was a notorious womanizer back in his day. Supposedly, he even tried to get with the granddaughter of the town's founding father."

"Hey, the founding fathers are my ancestors!" Matthew chimed in.

"No kidding," Roy snorted and put out his blunt in an ashtray. "So you got any plans on winning over that Misty girl?"

"I think I might," Matthew answered, affirmatively.

When Matthew was ready to go home, he headed out of the bomb shelter and was greeted by Seth. The ten year old was holding a dirty rag to his bleeding arm. Seth's face twisted in pain. Seth noticed Matthew and yelled out, "what are you doing pestering Uncle Roy, Mattie, especially at this hour when it's raining and thundering."

Matthew looked Seth up and down, "I'm just visiting a cool guy, Seth. Don't get jealous! Eh, what happened to your arm?"

"Nothing, I just need Uncle Roy to patch me up and I'll be fine." Seth pushed past him and headed into the bomb shelter. Matthew knew Derrick was starting trouble again. If Matthew remembered correctly, Seth's mom was working nights that week, leaving Seth at the mercy of his father. Matthew looked around nervously, hoping that Derrick would not try to stab him next. The brute already knocked him out once. Matthew quickly ran out of there to avoid getting stabbed like a victim in a slasher flick. He only hoped that Roy could mend that wound on Seth's arm.

A/N: Roy's past relationships with women will have a small role in Two Eds and an Ex-con, so be prepared for that. Also, thanks to everyone who had commented on the story so far. It means a lot to me.


	21. Box of Chocolates

Misty was a precursor to Matthew's understanding of relationships. She, Sasha, and his little princess all feigned disgust with him, but he knew their family backgrounds had much to do with their negative scrutiny of his character. All of them came from families that expected them to be pillars within their own community – and that did not include associating with a person like him. Misty's parents expected her to follow in their footsteps. He could tell that just from the way Misty carried herself each day that she attended class with him. He owed quite a bit to the shy girl. She helped him understand women, his fixations, and dating in general.

The school was so quiet at six a.m. in the morning that he could hear the principal's leather shoes tapping as the principal waltzed around the building to get the building set up for the day. It was rather unusual to see the school without any kids in it. Matthew was not at the school alone though. Lucas and Seth stood behind looking exhausted. They also looked like they were about to wring his neck for dragging them to school at this hour.

"What the hell are we doing here, Mattie?" Seth asked, wearing a new and stolen leather jacket. On the way to school, Seth remorsefully explained that he shoplifted the jacket to have something to wear for autumn and winter. Derrick was not going to buy his own son a jacket or a coat to wear when he could buy several bottles of vodka instead. Survival can lead to people doing regretful things to survive and Seth was no exception.

The jacket also served another purpose than keeping Seth warm. Despite Roy's handiwork at stitching up the gash from where Derrick stabbed Seth, the stitches were still visible to anyone who looked at Seth's arm. It was obvious even to ten year old Matthew that Derrick was growing increasingly violent towards Seth. Matthew worried that Seth might meet his maker before the year was out. Just being within the same vicinity as Derrick or Lucas' ball-busting dad made Matthew momentarily appreciate his own father. Carl McGee might be an emotionally distant bastard who seemed to grow even further disconnected with Matthew with each month that passed after Matthew was taken to the psych ward, but the old man was alright. That did not hamper the hatred that Matthew felt for him though.

Matthew stuffed the box of chocolates, card, and a plush black cat into Misty's locker and shut it. He could tell that particular locker was hers. It was filled halfway to the top with books and Alice in Wonderland stickers and magazine cutouts were taped to the side of her locker. "I had to get here before anyone did. It's Misty's birthday and I wanted to get her something."

Chocolates, teddy bears, and cards were to go-to gifts for the other guys at his school to shower Stacy and her friends with. Guys like Darcy also got similar gifts from naïve girls who thought they had a chance with the golden-haired "dreamy angel boy." Matthew blamed television advertisement for those items being the go-to items for students from elementary school to high school to shower love interests with.

"Where did you get the money for all that? I don't think your working class parents are going to fund their son's attempt to impress some girl. Cream-filled truffles from a high-end chocolate shop are usually 40 to 50 dollars easy," Lucas' eyes widened a second later and he counted the money in his wallet. "You son of a bitch!"

"Quit yelling! You want the Principal to hear us?" Matthew whispered, "Sharing is caring, Lucas. What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine."

"I should have expected much from you." Lucas reached into his wallet and pulled out 3 twenty dollar bills. He gave the money to Seth, "Since I've become a walking talking piggy bank, I might as well give money to someone who needs it."

"Thanks. I can pay for this jacket and still have enough left over to get Mom, Uncle Roy, and me dinner." Seth replied, gratefully, "You didn't have to though. I only hope the owner understands and doesn't throw me in jail."

"Don't mention it," Lucas replied. "Since I got robbed by a big thief, I agree that you should even if you end up in jail."

Matthew shoved all three of them into the janitor's closet and peered out through the space under the door. He waited impatiently for Misty to arrive. While he waited, Lucas, Seth, and he punched, shoved, kicked, and elbowed each other to make room. They were cramped with the limited closet space.

Misty shown up before anyone else at the school did. Matthew figured it was to avoid a confrontation between Darcy, Stacy, and any of their goons. All of the problems within the school would have been fixed if Darcy and Stacy was arrested and put in jail while their little followers watched, but that was a fantasy that was never going to happen. Misty opened her locker and gasped at the sight.

"Oh my goodness! Oh wow!" She expressed her surprise at the gift. She grabbed a red envelope from on top of the box of chocolates. She opened the envelope and glanced it over, "the card doesn't say who it's from."

"You didn't even leave a name?" Lucas complained in a seething whisper. "You take 60 dollars from me, blow it on things to impress her, and didn't even leave your name on the lousy card? You're a dumbass!"

Misty read the card aloud; oblivious to the audience she had across her locker, "`How is a raven like a writing desk? I don't know, Misty, but I do know you like chocolate when you're nervous. Hopefully, when you eat these, you'll think of me. Hey little sweetheart, who's the only one?'"

Seth snorted at the card, trying his hardest not to laugh. "That is so lame!" Lucas guffawed, still whispering, "I think I'm going to pee myself, it's so damn funny! You're such a tool, Mattie!" Matthew punched Lucas in the side, not taking his eyes off of Misty.

Then Sasha showed up five minutes later carrying a mix tape and a few stickers like what Misty and Sasha collected. `Nice try Sasha, you dick, but my present to Misty blows your puny present out of the water!' Matthew thought to himself. "Happy birthday, Misty!" Sasha cheered while handing her the gifts.

"Hey, Sasha," Misty greeted, accepting Sasha's gifts to her, "I love them! The stickers were just what I needed and I can't wait to listen to the mix tape later." Misty's delight turned into suspicion, "if you give me this then who gave me that?" Misty gave the chocolate and the plush cat a nervous look.

"Dude . . ." Sasha blinked owlishly at the gifts in Misty's locker, "someone went all out on you. You have no idea who?"

"No," Misty replied, opening the box of chocolates, inspecting them by breaking a couple of them in half. There no razors or any signs that the candies were tampered with, just pure creamy goodness at the center of the candy. Misty tasted one of the truffles, "it tastes so good! I still have no idea who would spend so much on me."

"You probably have a secret admirer," Sasha replied, "Did the person leave a note?"

Misty nodded and handed Sasha the card. Sasha took one look at the card and snorted, "Whoever sent this has horrible handwriting. Also the person was lazy or unoriginal enough to quote a Billy Idol song. Also, what's with the raven and writing desk thing?" Matthew sneered; he had to walk to the Peach Creek public library to get that quote.

"The Raven and writing desk quote is from Alice in Wonderland," Misty replied.

"You might want to take a quick trip back to your house. If Stacy sees this stuff, she'll become a raging banshee, especially over you getting expensive chocolate." Sasha warned.

Misty nodded, "Yeah, you're right. What I don't understand is why the person went through all of the trouble to give me expensive chocolate and a large stuffed animal. I mean, it's nice and I'm not complaining, but it's the thought that counts the most, not the price tag of the item given. It just feels good to be remembered on my birthday, you know?"

With that, Matthew gained a bit of insight into how relationships work – or better yet, how woo someone into trusting him for a moment while he set his plans into motion for that person. A small inexpensive trinket or even a helpful hand can be used to gain someone's trust. Roy was right; an individual would need to learn how to talk to the person they desired, but sometimes he just need that extra push to get things working in the way that he desired. Wooing Misty was no different than getting Lucas and Seth on his side. Also, the lesson provoked Matthew more into participating in that upcoming talent show, even if he lost.

The pizza and movies lead to him stealing his princess' virginity. It was something that no one else got to experience. It was the only reason why he tolerated fucking virgins – if the person caught his eye enough. Otherwise, he would've told them to get enough experience first and then come back and see him.

Several hours after Matthew learned a thing or two about Misty, Matthew, Lucas, and Seth were practicing in Seth's bedroom. It was a typical band session, except this was the first time they had it at Seth's house. The beast of the house was roaming around town, possibly at whatever bar was willing to put up with him. Roy didn't care one way or another, so they were able to play in peace. Seth let them know that the owner of the shop forgave him for stealing the jacket when Seth visited the shop after school, especially since he did the right thing and paid for it out of pocket. They played their instruments for an hour without any incident.

However, the door quickly swung open and Derrick stood in the doorway drunk as a skunk and a dangerous glint lurked in those eyes of his. Seth quickly cowered, knowing what was about to happen. However, Derrick quickly grabbed his son and lifted him by the neck, "you and your snot-nosed friends are too fucking loud! You and your friends think that you can get away with whatever the hell you want, huh? Answer me, you fucking brat!"

"No dad," Seth answered, choking. "We were just-"

"I don't care! You kept making me do this boy. Someday I'll take you out of this world just I brought you into it!" Derrick threatened.

"Leave him alone, you drunk bastard!" Matthew shouted.

Derrick sneered at him, "You want to get knocked out again, fat ass? Stay out of this!" Derrick punched Seth several times in the face while Lucas hid under the bed and Matthew watched the horror unfold in front of him. Then he realized that he had a switchblade knife in his pocket. One of the lessons Roy taught him is to rely upon a weapon in whatever fight he gotten himself into. In a blind panic, he jammed the knife into Derrick's thigh without thinking about it. The man flinched and dropped Seth, before hitting the ground. The man groaned in pain and held his bleeding leg. The wound was not particularly life-threatening, but it was enough to temporarily paralyze Derrick. "You crazy son of a bitch! You're dead next time I see you alone, fat boy! You're dead!"

"We'll see about that," Matthew replied, coolly. Stabbing Derrick gave Matthew such a euphoric rush that he never experienced before. It was an indescribable feeling. He felt powerful like a king or a predator like an anaconda that devoured its prey.

"Keep that waste of human skin there," Lucas commanded in complete shock, tossing each of the instruments out of the window, "I'm not paying for new instruments." When the last of the instrument equipment was pushed out of the window, Lucas yelled at Seth, "Get your ass out of the house, before he gets up!"

"I'll be there in a moment," Seth replied with as much shock. They all knew Derrick would be fine, but it must have been still shocking for Seth to see his dad taken down a peg and become vulnerable for once. "Are you coming, Mattie?" Seth asked.

"Sure," Matthew grinned, despite his shirt containing a small amount of Derrick's blood on it. He jumped out of that window, leaving Derrick to stew in his own drunken hatred. They carried their instruments to a safe location – Matthew's house. His parents were primarily alarmed to see Matthew with blood on him, but Matthew calmed them down when he lied and told them that the three boys were hunting and that the blood on his shirt was rabbit blood. He had gotten away with stabbing Derrick. Since Derrick had so much to hide regarding the child abuse that went on in that house and with how many alcohol bottles were lying in the floor, Derrick just patched himself up with a clean rag and duct tape and now walked with a stagger, at least what Matthew heard from Seth.

Time felt like was starting to accelerate for Matthew. Matthew knew that things were about to change for him when the eighties ended and when the nineties began, but he didn't know what to expect nor was he prepared for whatever changes that come his way. He was exiting one chapter of his life and beginning a new chapter.

A/N: Wow, this chapter didn't take long at all to finish. It helps when your internet goes down for about fourteen hours, you're bored out of your mind, and you know exactly what this chapter is going to be about beforehand. Enjoy!


	22. Hungry like the Wolf

The Berlin Wall fell in November of 1989. It gave even residents within a small town in North America peace of mind knowing that the Soviet Union was on its last legs. It also sparked the beginning of the nineties. The event hit close to home due to Lucas. Darcy and his friends let up on their taunting of Lucas and stopped treating him like a James Bond villain. However, due to Lucas mutilating the class hamster one year and being Matthew's lackey, Lucas was not going to win any popularity contests.

Seth was also granted some reprieve from the daily beatings from his father, mostly because of his dad's permanent limp due to Matthew jamming a switchblade through the flesh of Derrick's thigh. However, that did not stop the constant bruising to Seth's face, due to Derrick sometimes catching Seth and beating him senseless whenever he could. Seth's uncle still stayed the same person who lived in a bomb shelter, helped Seth when the man's paranoia did not plague him much during a particular day, and trained Matthew how to fight.

The talent show was postponed to the end of February due to the concerns teachers had over the talent show becoming a distraction during the same month students had testing. It just gave Matthew and his friends more time to practice. Seth and Lucas both turned 11 years old, Lucas in November and Seth in the beginning of February. For their birthdays, Matthew took a few moonshine jars from Roy's den and a pack of cigarettes from his mom for him and his friends to enjoy. Roy had crates full of moonshine, so Matthew didn't see the harm in taking a few. While both Lucas and Seth were skeptical of drinking and smoking, they gave into temptation.

The talent show was at the end of February after lunch. Most of the students from the elementary classes were placed within the gym that was converted into an auditorium for the event. A large red velvet curtain separated the front of the stage from the back of the stage. He noticed that Sasha and Misty were sitting together in one of the first four rows. Perfect.

Matthew's, Lucas', and Seth's costumes really came together. Matthew wore a tuxedo and a red top hat with the Joker card pinned to the hat. Seth had his face painted light blue with his lips painted a darker shade of blue. He also wore a turquoise wig, red vest to match his fez hat, and white billowy pants. Seth painted over each of the bruises that littered his body with small or medium-sized blue circles. Lucas had a heart painted on his cheek and wore his custom-made outfit with included a crown, a red velvet robe with black hearts and a white fur trim. Underneath the robe was an outfit that looked like it came from a renaissance fair with a white short-sleeved tunic, black trousers, and black boots. Their Mad Hatter, Caterpillar, and King of Hearts costumes were ready for the talent show. To complete the Alice in Wonderland theme, Seth drew up a mushroom, a pink and purple Cheshire cat, and a Queen of Hearts card on three large poster boards that he got from the school's art room.

The principal announced the event and discussed how the event would be based upon originality, presentation, and pure talent. The first act was a kid belching the alphabet. If Matthew lost to that kid, he would blow his top. Then there was the kid who attempted to do knock-knock jokes and wet himself from stage fright, causing laughter within the audience. Then there was a girl that fainted onstage while attempting to act out a scene from a movie. Stacy had done gymnastics. Matthew thought that talent shows were supposed to be entertaining.

Then it was Matthew's, Seth's, and Lucas' time to perform. They were given ten minutes to get their music equipment set up and to get their posters set up. It was a good thing Lucas knew about electronics, Matthew would've never been able to set anything up. He adjusted the strings on his harp and ran his fingers across the strings to check if his harp was ready. "I think I'm going to be sick," Lucas complained.

"Inhale if you're going to be sick, dumbass," Matthew retorted. "Also, focus on your damn keyboard during the performance. We are due to perform any minute now, so I, I mean we can't afford to fuck this up."

"I'll be fine," Lucas groaned in defeat. The curtain was raised and that was their cue to perform in front of Misty, Sasha, their teacher Mrs. Van Bartonschmeer who was also one of Matthew's neighbors, and in front of everyone else. He just strummed his fingers against the harp's strings and sung along to Duran Duran's song `Hungry like the Wolf.' The only sounds he heard in that moment were the sound of Lucas' synth player and Seth's drums. Matthew even pointed in Misty's direction during a couple of stanzas and returned to playing his harp afterward.

After the performance, the crowd was initially silent, but they ended up getting quite a bit of applause for their performance. It was strange to Matthew. He was normally used to being scorn from his classmates, but now they were applauding his and his friends' performance. The only thing Matthew could think of to do in the moment was to bow his head as the curtain dramatically closed.

Lucas ran into the backstage bathroom to heave while Seth nodded to the teacher that congratulated them on their performance just like she did with the other performers. Their equipment was moved to another part of the stage to make room for the next performer. Matthew was too shocked to say anything. It was a strange feeling to be applauded for something once. Lucas returned to help pack up their instruments until a few more acts were performed and a decision was announced. The third and second place winners were announced. Matthew waited in anticipation for the first place winner to be announced.

"First place goes to Matthew McGee, Seth Lovering, and Lucas Holmes!" The principal announced. Matthew was floored. It felt like too much of a dream to be real.

"Get up there, you idiot!" Lucas pushed him.

Matthew smirked as the shock started to wear off. He strolled across the stage like a man accepting an Emmy. The principal had three golden trophies waiting for them on the podium. The second place winner got a silver trophy and the third place winner got a bronze trophy. The second place was a girl who written a poem and read it aloud to the audience. The third place winner was a guy with a ventriloquist dummy. All three of them accepted their trophies from the principal. Matthew scanned the crowd and seen both Sasha and Misty watching him silently and clapping for him. He couldn't read what Misty was feeling, but he'll find out once school ends.

After being back onstage for five more minutes as the principal finished up giving other talent show participant winners participation ribbons, Matthew, Lucas, and Seth headed backstage to get their instruments. Lucas looked over his trophy, "well, this is going to break sooner or later."

"What makes you think that?" Matthew asked.

Lucas lifted up the trophy and showed Matthew underneath the base of the trophy, which contained the words `Made in China.' "That is why. Stuff made from China is made from cheap materials. I should not have expected any less from a middle class, suburban school with a limited budget."

"Well, how about that," Matthew said with disinterest.

"Well, I'm heading home. See you later Matthew!" Lucas replied.

Seth gathered up his drum set, with his trophy underneath his underarm, "I've got to head into the art room. Hopefully, our art teacher would allow me to keep my drum set in the room while I'm in there."

"Have fun," Matthew waved. Other talent show participants exited out of the building to go home.

Matthew struggled with his harp to get it on the furniture dolly he borrowed from his dad to take the harp back home with him and tied it up to the dolly tightly. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a curtain of curly black hair and a pale face looking towards the ground shyly, "Great performance, Matthew."

"Thanks Misty," Matthew replied, taking notice of Misty clenching upon a half-eaten candy bar.

Misty fidgeted, "so, uh, I've got to go!" Misty quickly darted out of the door of the gymnasium before Matthew could get another word out. He quickly followed her, leaving his harp and trophy behind.

Matthew rushed after her, "Wait a minute, where are you going?" Misty did not slow down. Her black Mary Janes clopped as she ran. "How is a raven like a writing desk?"

She quickly stopped in her tracks and turned towards him, looking at him strangely, "That was you?"

"Yeah, that was me. Who else would send you chocolates, a card, and a stuffed animal?" Matthew asked.

The shock on Misty's face was as clear as day. "What do you want from me?" Misty asked him, suspiciously.

"Geez, you're the smartest kid in our class. The fact that you tested the highest in our entire class in that dumb standardized test is enough proof of that. I'm sure you have a clue over what I want." Matthew replied.

Misty did not answer. She looked around the parking lot nervously and then at her watch as if she was expecting something to jump out of the bushes at her. "Okay, okay. You win. Please, can you walk me home? I need to get home."

"Alright," Matthew shrugged, "just let me get my stuff and we can get out of here."

"Please hurry. I need to get out of here." Misty replied, hastily. Matthew quickly went back into the gym to put his top hat, the aqua green wig and fez hat Seth left behind, and his trophy in his book bag. It was a good thing he rarely kept anything in his book bag. He threw the bag over his shoulders and pushed the harp towards the gym entrance. Once he got outside, he scowled darkly, "not those three shitheads again!"

The same three high school students from before who were harassing Misty were back to hassle her again. He quickly pushed his stuff back into the gym and looked around for something to deal with those three. If he can't beat those three at hand-to-hand combat, perhaps he could beat them by using the element of surprise. He swiftly grabbed a metal baseball bat that was left unlocked in the equipment closet.

When he rushed back outside, the three were still there. One of the high school boys with a rat tail hairdo held a struggling Misty against him while another high school boy with jeans that were ripped at the knees and three piercings in his right ear played with Misty's hair, nuzzled against the crook of her neck, and caressed her thighs. Matthew felt sick at the sight. He noticed Misty fumbling around her book bag frantically and pulled out a can of hairspray and sprayed one of them in the eyes with it.

"That little bitch!" The high school student with ripped jeans cursed, wiping at his eyes.

Matthew lunged at the one with a rat tail and swung the baseball bat, hitting the high school student in the back. The high school screamed and released Misty from his clutches. Misty quickly ran several feet away from the boys. "C'mon Matthew, hurry up!" She shouted, trying to catch her breath.

"Go on without me," Matthew shouted back at her. Misty looked like she was about to protest, "Go, goddamn it!" Misty rushed in the direction of the school.

"Get back here, you little cunt!" The average looking high school student started towards the running girl.

Matthew jumped on the high school student's back, "hey, asshole! You still have me to deal with!"

"Is that right? I'm going bury you behind the school. Does that sound like fun, you little faggot?" The teenager snarled. Matthew was punched in the face and fell down to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He felt a couple of his teeth break off from his gums and fall to the other side of his mouth. He lifted up his head and spit his teeth out. He had forgotten how hard that one teenager can hit.

The other two teenagers risen up like zombies rising from the grave. "Shit!" Matthew cursed quietly. He was a goner; there was no way around it. He saw the baseball bat and Misty's hair spray laying on the ground a couple of feet in front of him. He already broke one of the rules of fighting Roy taught him; never drop a weapon in the middle of a fight. He wished he had his knife with him.

The average-looking teenager picked up the ball bat behind him and swung it at him. The teenager missed, which caused Matthew to quickly crawl towards the spray can and grabbed for it. The teenager took another swing of the bat which landed on his upper arm. He screamed out and made a run for it. The teenagers quickly chased after him, but Matthew was able to hide from them by ducking behind two cars in the parking lot.

By the sound of three teenagers' conversations with each other, they were not interested in Misty nor were they interested into little kids exclusively. They were not like Ted who viewed children as works of art and viewed the adult body as trash. They picked Misty, because she was vulnerable. Those three were chicken-hawks who attacked children for fear of retaliation from people their own age. He couldn't help, but wonder where Misty went, but that was not important. He knew what he had to do.

He picked them off one by one when they split up. The average looking one was the first to go. The average looking high school student had his head bashed at the side of a car repeatedly after getting blinded by hairspray. Matthew checked the teen's pulse to see if the teen was still amongst the living. The teen was just knocked out. The teen with the rat tail was next to go. Matthew stalked behind the teen and jumped on the teen's back, placing the teen into a sleeper hold until the teen grew limp and dropped to the ground. Those two teens were just followers to an even bigger fish to fry; the teen with the three piercings in his ear.

It didn't take long to find the teen. His arm still hurt if he lifted it a certain way from getting hit with a baseball bat. He figured his arm was broken, but he was willing to ignore the sharp pains in his arm to teach the teen a valuable lesson; torment Misty and pay the piper. "Your weak friends got sleepy. What a shame!" Matthew mocked.

"You did something to them you little psycho!" The teen's tough exterior was cracked and the teen just a shaking mess. He was weak without his pack. "I can still kick your ass, you little twerp! Just like last time! Your arm is fucked, so I win by default!"

Matthew swung his bat around, tauntingly, "I still can use it, tough guy! C'mere if you want to know if I can still use my arm."

Matthew and the teen fought for what seemed like minutes until the teen hit the ground, mirroring the defeat of his comrades. Matthew stalked around the teen like a vulgar ready to consume its meal. "How do you like me now, you molester bastard, huh? Who's the little faggot, now?" Matthew delivered a couple of kicks to the teen's face. The high school student just moaned in pain and stared at Matthew in self-pity and fear. The teen's ear still bled from when Matthew forcefully ripped the piercings from the teen's ear. "Next time you come to this school or go around Misty, I'll cut off your balls and feed them to you." Matthew informed the teen haughtily. Matthew smirked at the sight of the teen's blood and dipped his fingers into it and brought his fingers to stare at the blood. He licked his fingers clean and sat on top of the teen.

A minute later, Misty and Mrs. Van Bartonschmeer rushed to them and a cop car parked nearby with a couple of officers inside of the vehicle. Matthew got off of the teen and approached Misty. Misty threw her arms around Matthew.

"I'm so sorry, Matthew!" Misty cried, fretfully, "I looked everywhere the school for a teacher and I finally found the teacher's lounge and got Mrs. Bartonschmeer."

"That was a brave thing you did, Matthew," Mrs. Bartonschmeer chimed in.

One of the cops got out of the car and immediately started chatting on his walkie-talkie after surveying the perimeter. He then turned to Matthew and introduced himself as Officer Mike. He answered whatever questions the officer had and answered as honestly and as briefly as possible. Matthew was taken to a medical center along with his book bag and harp. His parents were called to the hospital and arrived ten minutes later. He was further interviewed by police over what happened at the school while the doctor examined him and taken x-rays of his arm. He was missing a permanent tooth and a baby tooth and fractured his arm. After he was patched up and the police interview ended, he was released to go home.

His dad lightly patronized him over the danger that he was in during the car ride home, as if Matthew didn't realize it when one of the three teens threatened to bury him. Though, his dad also added that he was glad that Matthew was alright and that he worried his mother sick. The police ruled Matthew's actions as self defense since the teens pursued him with deadly intentions. The three teens were most likely charged with aggravated assault and indecent assault &amp; battery on a child younger than 14. He wasn't given the details of what they were charged with, just that they would be sitting in juvenile hall until the sixteen year old delinquents turned twenty one.

Word had also quickly gotten around school that he saved a girl from three high school students, most likely from Mrs. Bartonschmeer. Even though Matthew considered her a nice teacher, the woman was a gossiper. Apparently she also told her own daughter the G-rated version of the events that happened, because Mrs. Bartonschmeer's daughter stopped him one morning to babble to him. The only word he understand from the blond child was the word, "hero."

Matthew wasn't sure if he liked this change in events. On one hand, Misty started to warm up to him. On the other hand, he would constantly get stopped and asked about the incident as if he were caped vigilante in a comic book. Then there was also the version that Darcy and Stacy told that Matthew was just picking a fight due to boredom. The story took a life of its own which led to Matthew getting varying amounts of respect, depending upon the person.

Looking back on it, Matthew wondered if getting away with violence yet again led to him feeling invincible. It seemed that way. He had a streak of bloodlust in him that may have also led up to Sasha getting attacked. Barely anybody thought anything was odd or abnormal about Matthew putting three teens in the hospital, not even his friends or Roy. When he attempted to talk about it with Misty, she held him and told him that he did the right thing given the dangerous situation he was in. His friends did not want to believe and everyone else only cared that three child molesters were off the street, not that Matthew particularly blamed them.


	23. Derrick Lovering

A man convicted of domestic battery and child battery hung himself in his cell. The security guards who discussed the incident in hushed whispers wondered if the guy had been harassed by other inmates for openly admitting his crimes. Matthew doubted that reason for the man's suicide. A man like that thrived on control, had anger issues, and used some kind of mental gymnastics as to why they should be in power within a setting where two people should cooperate to make ends meet. Some of them barked their own skewed interpretations of religious doctrine. Some of them tout the supposed superiority of their own gender. Some used money as a reason act like a dictator within their own homes. Others played the victim like Derrick Lovering did. Derrick blamed Joyce's pregnancy with Seth for ruining his life. Whatever the abuser's reasoning was; they were all cut from the same cloth.

Then Matthew listened as the guards discussed how the wife of the man was in the process of filing for divorce and sole custody of their children. The man lost control and regained it back by hanging himself in his cell. Case closed in Matthew's opinion. He already knew how the rest would play out. The wife would grieve even though she would be secretly relieved that her abusive husband was out of the picture while the children would be numb to the whole experience. He witnessed it all when Derrick Lovering finally met his maker.

The day that Derrick Lovering died was a day like any other day. It was in the beginning of March during the weekend, the frigid cold weather was finally starting to break. Matthew wore a light jacket that day and headed to Seth's house to hang out with Seth and then train with Roy. Only the scene was much different when he arrived to Seth's trailer. Officer Mike and another officer were in front of the trailer knocking on the door.

Roy must have heard the knocks first, because the man gotten out of his bomb shelter and addressed the policemen, "Good morning, officers. What seems to be the problem?" Matthew remained hidden behind the bomb shelter and watched the scene unfold.

"Is your sister home?" Officer Mike asked.

Roy nodded and yelled out for Seth's mom. "Joyce, the police are here! They want to talk to you!"

The door opened a minute later. Joyce came out of trailer along with Seth who trailed behind his mother, surprised by the sight of the police officers. "How may I help you?" Joyce asked. Joyce wore larger sunglasses over her eyes and heavy foundation to hide the extent that Derrick had been abusing her.

"Mrs. Lovering. When was the last time you seen your husband?" Officer Mike asked as his partner took notes. Matthew stayed hidden behind Roy's bomb shelter.

"I saw him last night. He and I got into an argument over me threatening to divorce him and he left pissed off and drunker than a skunk," Joyce answered. "Is he in trouble?"

"Ma'am, I don't know how to tell you this, but your husband, Derrick Lovering, is deceased. He died around 3 am last night. I'm sorry for your loss." The officer announced grimly.

"Derrick is dead? How?" Joyce asked in shock, taking a seat on an old patio chair. "Seth, sweetie, go to your room please. I need to talk to the police officers. Go to your room." Seth refused to move. Roy comforted Seth by rubbing the back of the boy's shoulder. Joyce looked like she had just witnessed a car crash, Seth stood idly and unresponsive to the news, and Roy had a very neutral look on his face. Roy looked like he was more concerned with Seth's emotional well-being than with the news.

Officer Mike rubbed his eyebrow nervously. "Your husband was found in the parking lot outside of a bar on the highway. Witnesses saw him playing with a Zippo lighter and drinking alcohol that he was already in possession of before he went inside of the bar. According to our witnesses, he tried to purchase alcohol from the bar with his shirt drenched in alcohol an hour before the incident, but was refused entrance due to how intoxicated he was. He fell asleep in his car with the lighter still in his hand and his clothes ignited. He and the car burned to a crisp before anyone could respond to the scene." Officer Mike also added, "His wallet was also found at the scene. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Dear god," Joyce cried, "I need a cigarette. This is has to be some kind of crazy dream. I must be dreaming. I just- I don't- The last words I said to him were `I'm seeing a divorce attorney tomorrow!' I didn't mean it. I-"

"Again, I'm terribly sorry for your loss. It's not your fault. Your husband was drunk and foolish." Officer Mike consoled her. Roy reached out to Joyce and rubbed her back.

"I'm going to need you guys to leave now. I need to be alone. I just can't deal with this!" Joyce sobbed out, crushing Seth in a tight hug and crying into his shirt.

"If there is anything you need, just give me a call. Also, we're going to need you to come down to the station and claim your husband's body when you can get a chance to. Have a good afternoon, Mrs. Lovering." Officer Mike handed her his business card and headed back to the patrol car and then left.

Roy gently rubbed his sister's back, "I'm going to take Seth to Cynthia's. I'll borrow one of our neighbor's cars since we now don't have a one. I'll be back in twenty minutes." He patted her back and led Seth away. Seth patted his mom's back as well, comfortingly, before being led away. Matthew watched as Joyce threw herself to the ground and removed her sunglasses. The sound of a car driving away could be heard in the distance.

"What am I going to do? I can't raise Seth on my own. I can't keep a house together by myself. What am I going to do?" Joyce sobbed. "Derrick is gone and for what? For some lousy alcohol! He left me and Seth behind to deal with everything! I loved that bastard but he keeps hurting me even after death. Why, Derrick, why?"

The woman's eyes were weary from exhaustion and the skin around them was purple as a result from being battered. She sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks. The foundation she wore was smeared off from her tears, revealing that her cheeks were as purple as Seth's were behind the medical mask he wore to hide them. Despite the woman being around the ages of 26 to 27, the woman looked much older than Matthew's own mom. Matthew turned around and left, not understanding why the woman shed tears for man that was better off dead.

Two weeks had passed and Matthew had not seen Seth at school. The only contact Matthew or Lucas received from other boy was when Seth called them to tell them the news. Matthew grimaced, how long did it take for one family to mourn the death of an asshole? He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was starting to miss Seth. Misty and he passed notes back and forth in class while Mrs. Bartonschmeer discussed the legend of the phoenix and the legend's origins, a bird that combusts when it dies and then is reborn from the ashes.

The door suddenly opened and the sound of leather swaying can be heard in the distance. Matthew tilted his head up, not believing his ears. Seth was back in class after what felt like an eternity. Seth handed Mrs. Bartonschmeer a hall pass, "Sorry, I'm late."

"No problem, if you need help catching up, just talk to me after class and we can arrange times you can catch up on your class work afterschool." Mrs. Bartonschmeer replied.

The biggest surprise was seeing Seth without his mask. The bruises were gone. Seth's face was looking more normal than it had in a long time. Seth looked like a regular kid for once. No more medical mask. No more purple bruises. No more bullshit from a tyrannical abusive father that treated Seth and his mother more like a pair of punching bags that cried and shouted than humans.

"Welcome back from the dead!" Matthew greeted and high-fived Seth as Seth sat down next to him.

Lucas slapped Seth on the back, "you missed Darcy getting hit in the face with an old, moldy hamburger! It was awesome!" Seth snickered quietly at what Lucas told him in a whisper.

Apparently the loser's table wasn't the only ones who took notice of Seth. A couple of girls in front of them took notice as well. Neither one of them was Stacy's friends, but the girls were still considered out of their league. One of the girls was class president at one point. Matthew couldn't believe it. The coy stares they given Seth were not malevolent, they were gushing over him. Seth now looked average and the girls stopped ignoring him.

He suddenly remembered what Ted said to Seth that day when Ted removed Seth's mask. _"I don't understand why anyone would want to leave ugly bruises on children; it's just like throwing black paint on the Mona Lisa." _The girls liked Seth, because they could see his face now? Matthew only shook his head in disbelief.

At the beginning of May, Derrick Lovering's death was ruled an accident by the police. Seth did not react at all to the death of his father, only commenting that everything became more peaceful within his own home. It was also around that time that Matthew had heard from Seth that his dad received a tombstone on his grave. Matthew secretly plotted to make a special visit to Derrick's grave that he couldn't make before, due to Matthew not knowing the exact location of Derrick's grave, but a tombstone marking the grave beckoned him to seek out his revenge like an open window inviting car thieves to carjack someone.

He crept inside of Peach Creek Cemetery in the dead of night with a flashlight and a full bladder. He browsed by the different headstones, passing by the headstone of his grandma who died when he was just a baby. He eventually found Derrick Lovering's grave and grinned impishly, "Found you, you douchebag!"

Matthew's monologue begun, taunting the man in the grave as if the man could still hear him, "You don't look so tough now that you're six feet underground, Der-dick! Let's see you try to whoop someone's ass now! You can't, can you?" Matthew let out a cold laugh, "Roy and Seth won't give you what you deserve, but I will. Payback's a bitch, Derrick!" Matthew spit on Derrick's tombstone. "You shouldn't have acted like a butthead to Seth and his mom. You shouldn't have hit Roy and spent his money of booze. You also shouldn't have knocked me out and threatened to kill me."

Matthew danced on the grave like the dancing skeletons he saw from an old cartoon once and sung `Don't Fear the Reaper' at the top of his lungs. He knew that what he did was disrespectful to the dead, but that was the whole purpose of his actions, to show the dead man the same amount of respect that he showed Matthew in life. Being in a graveyard was kind of eerie. Just dancing on Derrick's grave felt like he was summoning the dead instead of disrespecting the man's grave. He stopped when he felt a tug on his bladder. "I drank a lot of pop before I got here, unfortunately for you!"

After Matthew urinated on Derrick's grave, he stared at the grave, proud of handiwork. He then looked around nervously for anything that might pop up and try to spook him. Cemeteries were extremely spine-chilling at night and he suddenly felt a sense of dread just from being there amongst so many dead people. He shrieked when he heard a branch snap and ran out of the cemetery without looking back, his cockiness gone.


	24. Gifts from Roy

It was the first time that Matthew spent his birthday in a prison cell. He was now twenty five years old, but hardly felt like he was. He had no college education let alone a high school diploma or a GED. He did not have a family to go home to, a house to return to, or a career. It felt like a large half of his twenties went by in a flash between the alcohol, his fixations, and working at an amusement park. He was an adult physically, but did not feel like one emotionally.

Matthew met up with Dr. Jones on his birthday and discussed his discomfort getting older. The attentive and understanding prison psychologist regarded the anxieties Matthew experienced as a normal thing that many individuals go through at particular rough moments within their lifetimes. She discussed that the traumas Matthew experienced could've played a small role in the anxiety he was feeling, but the anxiety would soon pass. Dr. Jones kind of reminded him of his old teacher Mrs. Bartonschmeer in a way.

Seth and Lucas visited him in his cell later for Seth to complete his tattoo under the same circumstances as was when the tattoo outline was completed. When Matthew sat still as Seth took his time coloring in Matthew's tattoo, Lucas and Seth discussed the carnival they all went to for Matthew's eleventh birthday party. Mondo A-Go Go was in the process of being built around this time, so they went to another seaside carnival that was as far from Peach Creek as Mondo A-Go Go was, going the opposite direction.

Before the birthday party, he made a stop at Roy's bomb shelter. The lingering thoughts that he had been having left him perplexed. He was infatuated with Misty, but he was having thoughts over what he would do if Misty was a boy. Of course it would make it harder for him to admit his attraction to her if she was born a boy, but he would still be attracted to her. Misty wasn't boy, an incident of Matthew feeling up the girl's skirt proved that, but the thought still shook him up. He would still be attracted to her even if she a boy and that made him feel dirty. The only person he could talk to would be Roy and that would potentially ruin his training session. Roy was the most masculine guy he knew, what would be the chances that Roy would accept him for being queer? Slim to none, but it would still give him peace of mind if he asked Roy for advice, even if it meant that his training would be discontinued.

Steam and the sound of running water could be heard within the bomb shelter. This was the first time Matthew ever heard running water in Roy's abode. It sounded like the noise was coming from behind a blanket. Matthew assumed that a wall was behind there until he lifted the blanket up revealing a half door and a bathroom Matthew was unaware of.

The small bathroom was in pristine condition just like the rest of the bomb shelter. Roy was a very disciplined and well-organized guy. He was very anal about what item went where, the number of push-ups he did a day, keeping a well-shaven face, and even the time of night he went to bed. The only mark on the perfectly clean cement floors was droplets of blood. Matthew looked up and saw Roy in the shower, bleeding from his neck. Roy seemed unfazed by the large bleeding cut at the side of his neck, washing it like it was a part of his body.

Matthew sneered in disappoint when he found the Roy wore a shower cap. He wanted to see what the hell was underneath Roy's hat. That shower cap on Roy's head was a temptress. It teased and mocked him over the fact that he never saw what was behind that cap and provoked him to rip that shower cap off of Roy's turned head and see once and for all, what he was obsessing over. The man's turned back was littered with scars and old bullet wounds. Somehow the man's nudity and scars made the man seem more vulnerable to him.

Roy turned toward the door and scolded Matthew, "Get out, kid!"

Matthew quickly rushed to the other side of the bomb shelter. Roy seemed mad. Matthew paced back and forth around wondering if he should leave. His heart pounded in his chest like a stereo speaker that played loud drum beats. The reason why he didn't leave was due to his need to get the questions regarding his own sexuality off of his chest and into the ears of a nonjudgmental person. He fucked up this time.

Roy came out of the bathroom a moment later, dressed in his normal attire. The man did not seem as upset with him as he did a minute ago. "What do you need, kid?" Roy asked, neutrally, dressing up the cut on his neck. Matthew was mildly surprised that Roy was not angry with him.

"I wanted to see you before I go to the carnival tonight for my birthday," Matthew announced, "are you okay?"

Roy shrugged, "I'm fine. Happy Birthday, kid. I've actually got something for you since you've been ding-donging me over it for about a month now."

"What did you get me?" Matthew asked, eagerly. Roy looked a little off that day. The man's movements were more cautious and the man's eyes looked so far away. Matthew was a bit worried, but that waned when he heard that he was about to receive a birthday gift.

"It's not much, but here you go." Roy handed Matthew a poster. Matthew unfolded the poster and seen the words `Beach Blanket Bongo.' "It's an old movie from back in my day. You've got to watch it sometime."

"It's nice, Roy. Thank you." Matthew replied. "So how are things around here since that fucker Derrick dropped dead?"

"Actually, it's been better." Roy admitted, "We can now have cookouts once in a while. Joyce can wear bikinis and shorts around her yard without any worries. Seth's been gaining some much needed weight and looks like a regular kid." Then Roy feigned bereavement in a mocking tone, "no, I mean it's terrible! He did everything and the rest of us are good-for-nothings."

Matthew chuckled, "how come you still hang out this hole? I'm sure you can watch TV now or something in the trailer?"

"Hey! I go in to have meals with Joyce and Seth and to have coffee. This bomb shelter might be a hole in the ground, but it's my hole in the ground." Roy explained, getting out a pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

"Old people and their bear caves," Matthew shook his head. "How old are you anyway?"

"I'm 43, kid and served in the Vietnam War when I was eighteen until I was twenty when I received an honorary discharge. How old did you think I was?" Roy asked, taking puffs from the cigarette in his hand.

Flabbergasted, Matthew tried to explain his confusion over the man's age. "Ah, thirties? I didn't know. You don't look older than my parents."

"Well, I am. It shouldn't be that much of a shock to you. I was drafted in 1965." Roy informed him. "You seem like you have something on your mind, kid."

"You'll hate me forever if I tell you what is on my mind," Matthew said sullenly.

"I've actually seen more than you can imagine, kid. Try me!" Roy replied.

Matthew sighed, trying to find the right words to say, to reveal his shameful secret, "have you ever thought of having sex with a guy even occasionally or thought that you would not care if the girl you're with is a guy or a girl."

"Ah, no. I'm only attracted to women, older women." Roy eyed him weirdly. "Does this have anything to do with you catching me in the shower? Look kid, I wasn't expecting you to pop in unexpectedly when I was in the shower if it had anything to do with that."

"It doesn't," Matthew hid his face, "it has everything to do with me."

"Wait a second. Kid, are you telling me that you're gay?" Roy asked, analyzing Matthew's face.

Matthew turned from the man's probing gaze. "Maybe. Misty is still the prettiest thing in this town and I have been thinking a lot about finally having sex with her. I like the way she looks and she makes my head spin, but I also think about being on top of boys when I rub one out. It's like I can't decide between girls or boys."

"Sounds like you're bisexual," Roy guessed, "Even though you're eleven, you're dealing with teenage hormones before you even had a chance to become one. This liking guys thing might be something left over from when you were touched by that creep or it might just be you becoming a bisexual teen and then a bisexual adult. You'll figure it out as time goes by."

"I guess our training sessions are finished," Matthew whispered, sheepishly. "Since I admitted to being a queer."

"I never said anything about that. I said that our training would be finished when you can knock me on my ass in a fight. I don't care if you're bi," Roy replied, "though that's something that you might want to keep to yourself. I might not care, but other people will and I'm sure you can already take a guess of what would happen."

"I'll get jumped and have to deal with assholes more than usual." Matthew stated, knowing what Roy was referring to. "Life sucks sometimes."

"It doesn't have to," Roy shrugged.

After a brief moment of silence, Roy's eyes grew to the size of saucers. Matthew looked in the same direction Roy was looking for a moment. Matthew was shoved back and Roy quickly pulled out one of his hunting knifes, posing in a defensive stance.

Roy crept of his target with his knife out, cold sweat dripped from the man's face as he zeroed in on his target; a snake. Roy was about to kill a snake. Roy's intentions to kill the snake were different from the time Lucas tried to kill one. Roy wasn't going to kill the snake for sadistic pleasure or misplaced anger, Roy seemed to be genuinely afraid of the snake; Ophidiophobia. It seemed like Roy had another fear besides `Charlie.' Matthew decided to take note of it for later use.

"Wait!" Matthew got in between Roy and the snake and picked the reptile up before Roy went in for the kill. Roy stopped when he seen Matthew.

"What the fuck are you doing, kid?" Roy shouted, still holding his knife up, defensively, "You almost got stabbed and now you're holding a dangerous animal. Do you have a death wish, today?"

"The snake is not even a poisonous breed or aggressive, put your knife down!" Matthew commanded.

Roy sneered, "The only good snake is a dead one. Kill it before it kills you."

"Look, how about I take the snake out of here and it won't bother you anymore." Matthew suggested.

Roy sighed and put his knife away. "Alright, just don't bring it back here."

"Will do," Matthew replied, grabbing his new poster. It was almost time for him to head to the carnival and he didn't want to be late. He headed back home from Roy's bomb shelter with poster and snake in tow; His birthday gifts from Roy. He invited Misty, Lucas, and Seth to his birthday party. Misty told him that she also would bring along a friend and Matthew could've already guessed who she brought with. Roy and his wisdom helped Matthew understand some things about himself that day even though at the time, he did not understand it himself. Matthew was still a bit anxious regarding the news about that part of himself, but the only thing he could do was see how it would work out in the future.

A/N: I goofed up on Roy's age in previous chapters. He's 43 in 1990. Sorry for the sudden change.


	25. Carnival

Seth and Lucas joked about the carnival gypsy while Matthew sat still as he was continually poked in the arm with the tattoo gun. The tattoo was shaded back in March, so getting the tattoo colored was the final step to having the tattoo completed. Matthew felt like a pin cushion or a voodoo doll. At least the coloring caused him less physical pain than the outline. Matthew honestly had no idea how much effort and precision went into tattoo artistry.

The reason why the carnival gypsy was brought up was due to Seth's infant daughter. It was quite a coincidence that Seth and he both had daughters but no sons. Matthew, Lucas, and Seth laughed off the gypsy fortune teller's prediction for years, but he wondered if the fortune teller could actually predict the future and wasn't some sideshow novelty or a con artist looking to scam carnival attendants.

The carnival was located by the ocean, much like Mondo-A-Go-Go was. However, unlike the carnival that Matthew was once employed at, the carnival he spent his eleventh birthday at had less of an ocean theme to it. It was an average carnival with rides, food stands, and game booths. His parents sat at the food stands, watching a local band play with Eddy on Margaret's lap. Matthew explored the carnival while he waited for Lucas and Seth to show up. He took a bite out of a corndog and tried to find his friends within the crowd of people.

The pair was spotted near the Ferris wheel. Lucas held onto a large gift that was wrapped up in blue wrapping paper. Seth was also carrying a gift that looked like it was wrapped up in old Christmas wrapping paper. "Hey you assholes!" Matthew greeted, "what did you get me?"

Seth noticed Matthew approach him and handed him the gift, "you'll just have to open it and find out." Matthew started to tear the wrapping paper from the gift, "Aren't you supposed to wait to open gifts?" Seth asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever!" Matthew retorted, glancing over the gift he got, "a snail clock? That's what you got me?"

"I thought it was pretty cool," Seth explained.

"Where did you even find a snail clock?" Matthew asked, incredulously.

"I bought it from a flea market," Seth stated.

"Of course," Matthew muttered, handing Seth the clock, "here, hold onto this for a second. I gotta see what Lucas got me." Matthew quickly grabbed up the large box and shredded the paper from the box containing the gift. "I bet it's a suitcase full of money, some cologne, the key to a toy store, or something cool like that!" Matthew opened the box, "Robotic arms?"

"Hey Lucas, isn't that your old science project?" Seth asked, "It still is a pretty cool gift."

Matthew whacked Lucas in the rear with one of the robotic arms, "you cheapskate!"

"Hey, watch it! Oww!" Lucas yelped as he fell forward to his knees.

Matthew gathered up the robotic arms and the clock and had begun to carry the items to the front gate of the carnival. "Where are you going?" Lucas asked.

"I'm taking these to my parents' car. The wristbands on our wrists allow us to go in and out of the carnival." Matthew replied, walking into the parking lot. He gave Lucas, Seth, and Misty carnival wristbands for his birthday party a week before and even gave Misty an extra wristband when she asked him to. He headed to his parent's car and opened the right backseat passenger's door. He sat the snail clock on the seat and the robotic arms in the floorboard.

"You know there's word for someone who complains about the gifts they get and still takes them anyway," Seth remarked behind him.

Matthew raised an eyebrow, "oh yeah? What's that?"

"A brat!" Seth replied. Seth received a punch in the bicep for his answer.

After the three got back inside the carnival, they browsed the various stands. Matthew wanted to ride the "big rides," but Lucas wailed and threw a fit because of his fear of heights. The only carnival ride he could get Lucas to agree to that even seemed remotely exciting was bumper cars. Matthew got his revenge when he continually pummeled his bumper car into Lucas,' causing Lucas' car to get backed into a corner while Matthew laughed manically.

After bumper cars, they browsed more stands. Each of three gotten a bite to eat; Matthew had gotten funnel cake, Seth got a cheese pretzel, and Lucas got a bag of peanuts. They played a few carnival games, winning a few small prizes. They eventually stopped by a small dark purple fortune teller tent. "`Madam Gypsy's Fortune Booth?'" Matthew read aloud. "Seems interesting. How about we get our fortunes told."

"I doubt a real gypsy is in that tent. It's probably some white female carnie dressed like a gypsy. In Europe, actual gypsies are famous for-" Matthew didn't catch the last part that Lucas said. He headed straight into the tent and came face-to-face with an ethnic looking old woman.

"Your friend, Lucas Holmes, should learn to respect other cultures, Matthew McGee." The woman stated.

Matthew's eyes widened, "how did you know my name or his name?"

"I can see some things." The woman replied. Her face turned towards the left corner of the tent when Seth and Lucas stumbled into the tent. "Good of you both to finally drop in, Lucas Holmes and Seth Lovering."

Lucas looked up at the woman, "Oh, so you're actually a gypsy? That still does not change what this tent is – a scam!"

"You should stop listening to the words that were once spoken by your deceased, cantankerous babushka." The woman warned as if she were an old friend of Lucas'.

The hair on Matthew's arms stood up and Lucas' skin turned three shades paler. Seth was the next one to speak, "You're a mind reader?"

"And a clairvoyant," The woman nodded, "I can read your thoughts and see your futures –free of charge."

"Sounds cool," Matthew sat in front of the old woman without hesitation on one of the three chairs, "what's mine?" Lucas and Seth sat hesitantly on either side of him. On the table, there were no crystal balls, no tarot cards, nor was there an Ouija board. The only thing that was on the table was a black velvet table cloth.

The woman looked seriously at them, "darkness surrounds you three. I see that all three of you have experienced tragedy in the past. You will continue to experience tragedy in the future and cause tragic events for others. However, amongst all of the tragedy, come girls in your future as a beacon of normality in your lives." Matthew smirked impishly at the mention of girls. The Romani woman cleared her throat, "I'm referring to female heirs –children- not lovers. All three of you will become the fathers of female heirs, but will have no sons."

"Well, thanks for the fortune, but we're going to go now." Matthew responded to the ominous fortune, nervously.

The old woman smiled, "well, take care boys!"

Matthew grabbed Lucas and Seth and ran out of the tent. When he turned back, the purple tent disappeared as if there was never tent there. Matthew shuddered and ran to find his parents. He found his parents at the picnic table with his cake, drinks, and gifts. Behind his parents were Misty and Sasha. Sasha looked around as if he didn't want to be there and Misty waved pleasantly at Matthew.

"Oh Matthew," Matthew's mom addressed him, "Since the rest of your little friends are here, it's time light the candles on your birthday cake."

After Matthew had blown out the candles that his mom had lit and everyone had eaten, it was time for him to open gifts. To his dismay, his parents had gotten him clothes yet again. He glanced at his parents for a brief moment, faking a smile. Margaret had Eddy in her arms. The toddler's face was still covered in a thin layer of frosting, despite the woman wiping off most of the frosting with a napkin.

He opened Misty's gift next. The girl had gotten him navy blue curtains with pink hearts, a jar of assorted hot peppers, and a Nana Mouskouri poster in a black violin case. "I didn't know what to get you," Misty admitted, shamefully.

"It's fine, Misty. I like what you got me." Matthew replied, hugging the girl tightly. He withdrew a second later. His parents were in front of him and while they were aware that Misty was the girl that Matthew rescued a few months back, they still were oblivious to the fact that the two preteens were currently dating.

Matthew pulled Sasha to side once his gifts were all opened and pinched the redhead's arm. "Where's my gift, you dweeb?"

"You're lucky that I even showed," Sasha retorted, slapping Matthew's hand away, "After the crap you pulled at my own birthday party and for the last three years that we've known each other, you don't deserve anything from me."

Matthew sneered and balled up Sasha's shirt. "You're lucky Misty considers you her best friend or I would've beaten the snot out of you!" Matthew hissed in a barely audible whisper.

"Right," Sasha rolled his eyes. Sasha looked around the ground and bent over to pick something up. Sasha shoved the pink item into Matthew's chest. "I hope you like it," Sasha replied sarcastically, heading back towards Misty. Matthew looked down and seen that it was a pink toilet seat. Fucking Sasha!

After Matthew gathered up the rest of his gifts and carried them to the car, he walked with the other four preteens around the amusement park. The end of Misty's sundress billowed as she walked. The white sundress reached the end of Misty's knees, but the dress still exposed an inch of her thighs while she walked. That dress made her look like a porcelain doll to him.

"Hey, have you guys seen that Madam Gypsy tent yet?" Lucas asked as they walked.

Sasha looked at him weirdly, "Ah no. I've been to this carnival plenty of times and I've never seen a Madam Gypsy tent."

"There was one though," Seth retorted.

"Where is it then?" Sasha demanded, "Show me where it is."

Matthew pointed to the empty spot where the tent once stood. There was no trace that a tent even stood there. "It was right there. There was a gypsy witch psychic woman and she read our fortunes. She even knew our names!"

"You're crazy," Sasha dismissed.

Matthew huffed, "I know what I saw!"

"C'mon guys. Let's not fight, alright?" Misty attempted to mollify the two. "There are plenty of rides to try out."

"No!" Lucas hid behind Seth and cried into the back of his shirt, trapping Seth in a bear hug, "I'm gonna die if I go on one! I'm going to die!"

"Hey, get off me! You'll be fine!" Seth struggled to break free from his hysterical friend.

Matthew pulled Lucas off of Seth and threatened, "You're going on the ship ride or I'm going to show you something that's scarier than any ride here."

"The ship ride? That seems kind of scary," Misty admitted.

Matthew put his arm around Misty, "Don't worry, China Doll! I'll sit with you and make sure nothing happens to you."

"I told you not to call me that," Misty huffed, blushing.

The ship ride was fashioned to look like a stereotypical Egyptian ship with a golden pharaoh head in the front of the ride. Matthew had the second-to-last row on the ride next to Misty while Lucas, Seth, and Sasha had the last row. After they were all buckled in safely, the ride had started swinging back and forth.

Misty hung onto his hand throughout the whole ride. Matthew squeezed her hand back. In a way, it felt like he was on a date with her. The moment was almost perfect. Almost. He still had to listen to Lucas' high-pitched shrill screams during the whole ride. The brunette boy yanked on Sasha's and Seth's wrists during the whole ride.

After the ride was over, Matthew whispered in Misty's ear to ditch their party and they ran before Lucas, Seth, or Sasha could even follow them. They laughed joyfully as they walked along, glancing at all of the older couples in front of them. Teenage couples acting flirtatiously with each other and twenty-something adults walking hand-in-hand.

They stopped to get ice cream. Misty paid for both of them since it was Matthew's birthday. They both had gotten chocolate ice cream. After they consumed their ice creams, Matthew rushed towards a railing near a steep cliff. "Hey, check it out!" Matthew pointed, guiding Misty towards the railing, "You can see the ocean from here."

"Yeah, it's lovely, but we need to be careful. We could slip and fall." Misty warned.

Matthew tsked and started to climb the railing. "I'll be fine! Just watch!" Matthew threw his legs over the railing and stood on the edge, holding onto the railing for support. "Come here, Misty."

"This is dangerous," Misty stated as she approached him.

Matthew chuckled at her, "Relax, babe. I'll be alright." He leaned over the railing to kiss Misty. She kissed him back. After a few moments, Matthew deepened the kiss by tilting her chin down and slipping his tongue inside of her mouth. It felt like an eternity before they both stopped making out to catch their breath.

Suddenly a rock gave way and Matthew lost his footing and grabbed onto the railing for dear life. Misty screamed as she ran presumably to get help, "Hang on!" The old gypsy lied to him. He was not going to have daughters in the future. He was going to die on his eleventh birthday, a bloody splatter onto the rocks below.

Misty came back with a rope and took off her Mary Jane shoes. She rushed over to the railing and tied one end of the rope to the railing and another around her waist. "Here take my hand," Misty reached toward Matthew. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts to take her hand, Matthew finally grabbed a hold of it.

Misty pulled Matthew with every muscle and strength she had. Her efforts finally paid off when she lifted Matthew over the railing to safety. Misty jumped off the railing and leaned over Matthew. Both of them were breathing heavily from the fear and adrenaline coursing through their entire bodies. Misty looked so relieved to see him. Matthew smirked humorously, "I saved your life and you saved mine. I'd say we're even." He caressed her cheek as she almost looked like she was ready to bawl her eyes out. They eventually caught back up with the others once they calmed themselves down. Later on that night, Matthew ended up hunched over the toilet from consuming ice cream, but it was worth it in his eyes.


	26. Love will tear us apart, Misty pt 1

The subject of Misty came up next between Lucas and Seth as Seth was putting the final touches to Matthew's tattoo. It was mostly reminiscing about the times that they remember her and making presumptions about what Misty must be doing with her life in the present. Lucas had completely forgotten Misty's name while Seth mistakenly assumed her name was `Missy.' Matthew quickly corrected them; her name was Misty Holliston.

One fateful day, two weeks after the carnival and three weeks before Matthew's second psychotic episode, he met up with Misty near the candy store on Main Street. Misty stood by the store, hastily consuming fudge and focusing intently on the darkening clouds in the sky. Her eyes were the same color as the gloomy sky above. Her eyes were extremely mesmerizing to get lost in, but there was something different about them today. Almost as if she was expecting for something to fall from the heavens. That distant frightened look was usually unlike the girl that he went out with.

Matthew tapped Misty on the shoulder, breaking the girl from her trance, "Been waiting long, China Doll?"

"No, I haven't," Misty replied, wrapping her arms around Matthew.

Matthew purred in perverse contentment when he felt Misty's breasts against him and inhaled the smell of soap coming from the girl. "So what are we doing today?"

"I was thinking that we can go back to my house," Misty suggested, taking one wary glance at the sky before turning back to Matthew. "My parents are not home, so you can stay until it's time for you to go home."

"That would be cool – wait . . ." Matthew begun to process Misty's words, "are you serious?"

Misty nodded, "Yes, but please hurry, I need to get home before a storm hits."

"Alright then, lead the way." Matthew grinned. He was not one to argue with a good thing, despite how oddly the girl was acting. What was so important about the sky anyway? The girl took his hand and led him down the street. Misty wore a white dressy short-sleeved shirt and a black skirt. Matthew marveled at how monotone colors suited the girl.

Misty lived in the same neighborhood as Sasha in a two-story house with a privacy fence in the backyard. The landscape was basic, but well-maintained. A bay window gave Matthew a peek into the living room in which Misty and Matthew entered into when they went inside. Cat trees were in two of the corners of the house. Cats lounged in the cat trees without a care in the world. Matthew counted at least eight cats in the house. The furniture looked as though it was all bought from a vintage store at one point or were family heirlooms. Paintings of cats filled the walls of the living room along with family photos and school pictures of Misty.

They were instantly greeted by two large dogs and a French bulldog at the door. The dogs barked at them and pressed their noses against the two children. Misty had her hands and arms sniffed and licked by the dogs in the house and Matthew was just sniffed. "Our dogs were shelter dogs. My parents adopted them from an animal shelter in the city. Most of the animals in this house are. They're animals who were abandoned, abused, or neglected by previous owners. They needed a home and my parents gave them one."

"There's more?" Matthew asked flabbergasted.

Misty nodded, "There's 3 dogs, nine cats, a ferret, and a boa constrictor. The ferret and the boa are the only animals that didn't come from an animal shelter"

"You got a boa? Cool! When are we going to see it?" Matthew remarked in awe. "What's a ferret?"

"A ferret is an animal that is kind of like a weasel. You'll see them both when we head to my room." Misty explained leading him through the house. Despite how clean the house was, Matthew could still smell the scent of animals throughout the house. The snake in the terrarium was longer than Matthew was, but that did not make the creature any less awesome in Matthew's eyes.

Misty pointed towards the snake, "Kaa is too big for me to hold. My parents can hold him, but I can't."

"You named your snake after the snake in `Jungle Book'?" Matthew questioned. He should have guessed that a snake would be named that given the character's popularity.

Misty nodded and then showed Matthew the ferret she had. The ferret's name was Zeus. "After the Greek God," Misty explained. The elongated mammal slept in the hammock in its cage. That was the first time Matthew ever saw or even heard of a ferret. Matthew's first impression of the animal was that it had a strange, unpleasant odor. Given how well-cared for the other animals of the house appeared, Matthew concluded that was a clean odor for a ferret.

"Now it's time to head to my room," Misty flashed a small smile. She quickly turned towards the sky and shuddered. Matthew's palms began to sweat. He never stepped foot inside of a girl's bedroom before, besides the bedroom his mom shared with his dad. What would a girl's room be like? He would imagine that it would be a lot cleaner than his own room and probably a lot more girly. The only thing he had to base it on was girls' rooms on television shows. More importantly, what would a girl's room even smell like?

Misty opened the door, opening a small portal into Misty's world. The wallpaper in the room had a floral pattern while the furniture in the room was white. The canopy bed was a full-sized one with a quilt blanket and pillows with white pillowcases with embroidered flowers. Besides the bed, the other furniture in the room included a desk, a dresser, a large bookshelf filled with books, a chest, and two nightstands. Posters littered her walls of buildings and travel destinations in faraway countries, classical singers, Nana Mouskouri, and even modern musical artists that Matthew recognized such as Missing Persons and David Bowie. The plush black cat Matthew gave Misty was sitting beside the pillows on her bed, causing pride to swell up within Matthew's chest.

"This is my room." Misty stated, awkwardly. "What do you think?"

"It's alright for a girl's room," Matthew blurted, inhaling the sweet scent of room, which smelled like fresh linen and Misty's own unique scent.

Misty rolled her eyes, "Typical boy!"

"Hey, I've never been in a girl's room before, so I wasn't sure what I expected." Matthew admitted.

Misty raised an eyebrow. "Am I the first girl who invited you into her room? You don't have any girl cousins?"

"Pretty much," Matthew sighed, "I don't have any cousins."

Misty only shrugged at the information. They talked for a while about their friends, about their plans for summer break, about music, and about anything else they could think of while they sat on top of Misty's bed. In the middle of their conversation, an orange tabby jumped up on to the bed and butted its head against Misty's side.

"That's my cat; his name is Aslan. I named him after the king from `The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.'" Misty informed him, while she stroked the purring cat's back. Their peace was interrupted by the noise of thunder outside. Misty screamed a blood-curling cry and quickly latched onto Matthew, crying into his shirt. The cat jumped off the bed and hide underneath it. "No!" She let out another scream when another rumble came from outside, which confirmed that Misty was afraid of the storm outside; Astraphobia.

Still, Matthew had to hear it from Misty's mouth. "Hey, Misty," Matthew patted the hysterical girl on the shoulder, "are you afraid of the storm outside?"

Misty nodded, "I-I'm sorry Matthew. I knew it was going to storm outside and I invited you over so I wouldn't be here alone. When I was little, my mom or my dad would rub my back and hold me during a storm, but they're at work and it's hard to be here by myself when it storms." She sobbed, she choked on her tears.

"Misty, Misty." Matthew said calmly, trying to soothe the hysterical girl. "There's nothing to worry about. I'm here. Just look at me."

Misty looked into his eyes. Her eyes were reddened. Crystalline tears ran down her ivory-colored cheeks. Her cheeks were also starting to reddened. She looked to him with hope in her eyes. She wanted him to soothe her during the storm. He did the only way he knew how. He cupped her face and kissed her impassionedly.

Misty kissed him back and sobbed again in his mouth when thunder could be heard in distance. Matthew held her tightly against him, feeling the need to protect her from her own fears. It paid off when Misty slowly started to calm down despite the storm. Biology worked against Matthew and his pants tented underneath Misty. It was the wrong place and time for him to have that sort of physical reaction brought on by the close proximity of the girl.

"Is that-" Misty asked, looking down at Matthew's lap, curiously.

Matthew nodded, "Unfortunately."

"How do you get rid of it?" Misty asked.

Matthew shrugged, awkwardly. It was not easy explaining that kind of thing to a girl. Then again, he was there when Misty gotten her first period. "I usually just rub it until it sprays white stuff and goes down, but there is another way to get rid of it."

"Oh- Oh! You mean sex. Your mom explained it to me a little bit when I met her and my parents explained it to me when I went home after Sasha's birthday party." Misty replied.

It was then that Matthew opened the floodgates, "Do you want to have sex, Misty?" He wasn't sure when their positions reversed and he was on top of Misty, but neither one of them objected to the change in position.

"Wouldn't I get pregnant?" Misty asked, worriedly.

Matthew shrugged, "I have no idea. Roy, a guy I know, told me that babies are not made every single time a person has sex, but only sometimes. You still want to try it even if there is a small chance?"

"I guess so. I never done it before, but I trust you Matthew," Misty looked at him with certainty and that was all Matthew needed.

After stripping them both of their clothes, Matthew took Misty's virginity. To the rest of the world, they were two confused children who acted out the sexual abuse that was inflicted upon them. However, to them, they were exploring their feelings for one another. The whole act was awkward, yet pleasant. Hearing Misty's soft whimpers and blissful moans only spurred Matthew to continue until he reached his peak. Misty reached hers right before Matthew did and whispered "I love you!" before she was spent. Matthew paused for a moment in shock. He never told anyone about Ted whispering "I love you" in his ear when Ted was done assaulting him. It was a momentary shocking moment, but Matthew did not begrudge the girl for saying it.

After he was done, he remained inside of her and kissed her cheek, panting as he attempted to catch his breath. He wanted to do it again, even repeatedly, when he regained his energy. He felt exhausted and relaxed while he slumped on top of the girl. Both of them were too caught up in the moment to speak, but they had a silent understanding that the act they just partook in was pleasurable. It was a comfortable silence until all hell broke loose.

Misty, his first fixation and the girl he lost his emotional virginity to. What happened that night and what happened during that week changed him more than Matthew cared to admit. Misty Holliston, the girl who was his first fixation. Matthew felt numb to remembering his time with her. He didn't know whether he was shielding himself from fully grieving the girl that was ripped from his arms, but the rest of the night was not as blissful as the beginning of the night was.

A/N: I broke this chapter up into two parts. Stay tuned.


	27. Love will tear us apart, Misty pt 2

The discussion of Misty between Lucas and Seth delved into the week they found out about Matthew losing his virginity the first week they went back to school. They were not there to witness the drama unfold in front of Misty's house, but a few students who were Misty's neighbors did. That was one of the few things that stood out about her to them, besides her being Sasha's friend, being the reason why they participated in the talent show, and being the reason why Matthew took sixty dollars from Lucas' wallet. They regarded the girl with disinterest. She was just a memory to them. To Matthew, she was much more than that.

Matthew felt like his eyes were open for the first time the night that he lost his emotional virginity Even though his innocence was ripped away from him by Ted, the moment he willing gave up his emotional virginity to Misty was the moment that he shed the skin of childhood and entered manhood – or at least it felt that way to him. It can be difficult even for the most experienced of authors to describe the process of budding sexuality. A flower opening to full bloom or a caterpillar metamorphosing into a butterfly, Matthew's heard all of the clichéd euphemisms for losing one's virginity. To him, it was like discovering a new hobby to indulge in or discovering a new part of himself that he did not even know existed.

He felt a connection with Misty. All of the buildup from when he first laid eyes on her finally came to fruition. Through the act of sexual intercourse, it felt like he knew Misty better. As clichéd as it sounds, he felt like he knew everything there was to know about her; her strengths, her weaknesses, her goals, every inch of her body, and everything else. He wouldn't consider it love. Love was an alien concept to Matthew. Explaining love to him is similar to explaining the sense of sight to a blind person. However, whatever he had with Misty was something he couldn't identify. It was perhaps a strong, first fixation or obsession? Probably. He did not care what others thought of their relationship whether they were too young to be engaging in that kind of behavior or if it was doomed from the start. He would tell anyone who objected to kiss his ass and mind their own fucking business. He had her and that's what counted. Though the age in which they engaged in sexual intercourse was what had lead to the drama that happened later that night.

While Matthew was still on top of Misty, the door in her bedroom had suddenly opened. Neither one of the kids had heard a car pull into the driveway. They both froze in fear of who was most likely behind the door. Matthew peered over his shoulder at the door. "Misty," The heavyset woman behind the door called out sweetly, "Your father and I are – George!" Misty's mother screamed at the sight before her when she opened the door. Matthew quickly rolled off of Misty in a panic and Misty covered herself from her mother's bewildered gaze with the quilt on her bed.

"Helen, what happened?" Misty's dad quickly bolted inside of the room and instantly mirrored his wife's expression at seeing Matthew and Misty in bed together. It was pretty obvious what they were doing. They were both undressed and Misty's parents seen more of Matthew than they cared to. "What the hell is this?"

Matthew felt panic sink in. They were either going to call the cops on him or tell his own dad what he did. His heart raced at the thought of ending up in jail. That's what happened to those older teenagers who tried to hurt Misty. Would the same thing happen to him even though he's the same age as Misty and Misty wanted to do it as well?

"Oh God! Oh God! I caught Matthew in bed with our daughter!" Misty mom exclaimed as she buried her face in her hands. "Please God, no!"

Misty's dad charged at Matthew and pulled Matthew off of the bed by his arm, "Get away from my daughter, you little punk! Get dressed, because you're never coming back here again! I don't want you to see Misty or talk to her ever again!"

"Let go of me, you shithead!" Matthew shouted as he pulled his arm away from George's tightening grip.

"Dad! It's okay," Misty cried out, "I wanted him to. I-I love him!"

"Love him?" George parroted, "You're eleven years old Misty! You don't know what love is! Listen honey, we'll discuss this later! Right now, you need to know that having sex with a boy is not okay at your age." Misty's dad's face hardened, expressing the anxiety and hurt that he felt. "We should've never moved to this godforsaken town! First it was those teenage dirtbags who tried to rape Misty and now it's this little punk." Misty's dad gestured towards Matthew who was in the process of getting dressed. Misty's dad continued his rant, "If we stay in Peach Creek any longer, Misty would end up pregnant before she even has a chance to go to middle school."

Misty's mom headed towards Misty and rubbed her upper back in an attempt to placate the crying girl. Tears ran down Misty's cheek as she heaved out a sob. "You should calm down, George," Misty's mother suggested, "Look, the boy's father introduced himself and Matthew to us when we picked up Misty from that carnival birthday party, remember? The father's name was Carl McGee if I remember correctly. You can look up Matthew's dad in the phone book while I make sure Misty washes up. We can handle this."

Matthew attempted to reach out to Misty, but Misty's dad yanked Matthew by the back of his yellow jersey and pulled him away from the bed. "C'mon. I'm calling your father and we're going to wait for him outside, storm or no storm."

Matthew thrashed and yelled obscenities at the house patriarch as he was dragged to the nearest phone in the house. Misty's father flipped through the residential section of the phone book angrily and had begun to dial a familiar number that Matthew knew by heart. Being next to the man made Matthew realize how stout Misty's dad really was. George Holliston was only 5'3 and looked like a school librarian or a stereotypical college professor. Matthew's dad was a foot taller than the man before him. The only thing intimidating about the dark-haired, balding man was that the man was the gatekeeper between him and Misty.

"Let go of me! You can't stop me from seeing Misty forever!" Matthew bellowed.

Misty's dad ignored him and finished dialing the number. "Hello, is this Carl McGee?" There was a brief pause if which his dad possibly uttered a greeting. "Hello, Carl. This is George Holliston, Misty's father. I'm calling in regards to your son." There was another brief pause. "No, he's not hurt, but I don't want him hanging around my daughter anymore." And yet, another pause. "I caught your son in bed naked with my daughter. My own wife informed me that he was on top of her before I even came into the room. It was pretty obvious what they were doing." Matthew already knew that his father probably apologized profusely to George as if he was a complete embarrassment to the family. "That would be great. See you when you get here."

After George hung up the phone, Matthew was dragged outside in the middle of a rainstorm by his arm. It was raining heavily outside. Matthew scowled at George; the man didn't expect him to remain outside until his dad showed up, did he? He attempted to pull from the man's grip, but it was a futile attempt.

The rain came down hard, getting them wetter than if they both stood under a running shower in a bathtub. One of the local weather reports did claim that they were expecting strong showers to hit the region. Mud puddles formed almost immediately along the sidewalks. Lightning flashed in the distance. What was the probability of the heavens causing lightning to crash down on them both? Probably not very likely, the eleven year old had hoped.

George's dark eyes flashed with fatherly anger when he took one silent look at Matthew. The look in the man's eyes matched the flashes in the dark grey skies. The eleven year old boy's clothes were getting soaked, chilling him to the bone. Raindrops had dropped from the tip of the eleven year old's hair. He shivered; he was not looking forward to dealing with his dad. He would stand in the rain forever if he had to.

Matthew's dad pulled into the driveway and parked his vehicle. By the looks of it, Matthew's dad did not seem like he was in a good mood. The foul expression on his dad's face was visible even from where Matthew was standing. He dreaded what his dad had to say regarding the already intense situation with Misty and her family. Carl approached him both with the look of fatherly seriousness on his face that told him that he was in trouble.

"I'm terribly sorry, George," Carl immediately apologized as he shook George's free hand, "I don't know where Matthew learned about that, but I plan on scolding him when he gets home. This will not happen again."

George curtly nodded as he released Matthew. Carl quickly grabbed Matthew by the scruff of his shirt, "Oh I know, because he's not allowed around my daughter. I already put my foot down regarding that issue." It was then that Matthew noticed that they had an audience, which included Sasha and a girl from school that was best friends with Stacy, just great.

"Like your old ugly mug hasn't had sex before. Misty wouldn't exist if you didn't put your dick inside of your wife!" Matthew retorted defiantly. He noticed the outraged expression on both of the adult's faces and kept talking, "You fuckers already knew I had sex with Misty. Yeah, that's right! You shitheads can't keep me from her. I had sex with her and sprayed white stuff inside her. Who gives a shit? It's not like you two haven't done it before!"

"Watch your mouth, Matthew Terry McGee! We're leaving." Carl clamped a hand over his son's mouth to silence him. He then turned toward George. "I'm sorry for all of the trouble my son has done tonight. I'll deal with him when we get home." Matthew rolled his eyes at his dad's apology to George.

"It's probably not easy raising an uncivilized hellion. You have my sympathies, Carl." George replied, pitying Matthew's father.

"Are you just going to let him talk about me like that?" Matthew asked his father venomously as he was lead to the car. Matthew's dad did not answer and silently got into the car.

The ride home was filled with a silence that was thick enough to suffocate anyone that would've been in the car with them. Matthew felt hatred towards his father. His dad allowed George to talk about him like he was some kind of – hellion. Is that what his dad thought of him? That he was nothing more than a hell-spawn that Carl was forced to raise?

"Why the hell am I not allowed to see Misty anymore? It's not fair! It's completely not fair at all! Answer me!" Matthew demanded.

Carl groaned and gave his son a disappointed look, "You're too goddamn young to be having sex!"

"You and mom have sex. Misty's parents have sex. What's the big deal?" Matthew protested.

"Like I said, you're too damn young! Where did you even learn about sex in the first place?" Carl asked his son, exasperatedly.

That was one question that caught Matthew by surprise. He did not want his father to know about Seth showing him porn magazines to impress him or about getting molested by Ted. He would need to come up with a very convincing lie to continue hiding the sexual abuse and not be forbidden from seeing another friend tonight. "I heard about it from school. The kids would talk about it a lot." Matthew lied. He should've tried acting in a school play, because even he was convinced by his own answer.

It was enough to persuade his father. "You're grounded for two weeks and we're going to see a doctor in the morning. It's – unnatural for you to be like - this - at your age." With that, his dad got out of the car, shutting the door behind him, and went into the house. Matthew was not even sure what the doctor's office would prove or what was going to happen to Misty. Everything was out of his control now.

A/N: There's going to be a third part to this chapter. Stay tuned.


	28. Love will tear us apart, Misty pt 3

Seth and Lucas left when Matthew's tattoo was finished. The two had lives of their own that they needed to get back to. As the old saying goes; `Parting is such sweet sorrow.' Watching someone leave is a reoccurring event within Matthew's life. After all, he watched Misty leave for good over a decade ago when they were just eleven years old.

The day after Matthew was caught with Misty, his dad drove him straight to the children's clinic in town while his mom stayed home with Eddy. Matthew stared at the blue painted hand prints on the white walls of the clinic. Matthew guessed that it was supposed to be cheerful or something, but he just rolled his eyes at the lazy, unoriginal design. He tripped a toddler in the waiting room when nobody was paying attention. The toddler landed on his elbows and wailed from the fall. The toddler's mother quickly rushed from the receptionist's desk towards her son and picked him up into her arms, chastising the toddler for running in the waiting room.

"Matthew McGee?" The nurse called his name from the doorway leading to the pediatrician offices. The nurse was a cheerful African-American lady who had her curly hair in a loose ponytail. "Why don't you take off your shoes and step on the scale over here so we can see how much you weigh." Matthew quietly stepped onto the scale. The nurse measured Matthew's weight and announced it to both the son and the father, "104 pounds." She then measured Matthew's height, "4 feet and 9 inches tall." She jotted down Matthew's measurements. "Now if you would just head to room 8A, two doors on the left and a doctor will be with you momentarily. Also, Matthew, would you prefer a male doctor or a female doctor?"

"A female doctor!" Matthew spoke over his father who would've suggested that Matthew get seen by a male doctor. The nurse just nodded and led them both to their room. Matthew was given a small hospital gown and was told to change into it.

Matthew quickly changed when the door shut. He was in his underwear when his dad helped him tie the straps in the back. He removed his underwear and sat on the medical bed, the gown covering the front of him. After he turned six years old, after the lessons both of his parents gave him about dressing and bathing himself, they never again saw him naked except for the accidental rare occasion. Even when he had chicken pox and measles a couple of times as a child, his parents only saw him in his underwear. He was six years old when he was first informed about the concept of privacy, both on how to respect the privacy of others and how to expect privacy when he was changing, using the bathroom, and showering.

A couple of minutes later, a female doctor strolled in after knocking on the door. The doctor was a tall woman with dark blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and an hourglass figure. If Matthew wasn't in a relationship, he might have embarrassed himself by throwing a cheesy pickup line at her. "Hello, Matthew was it?" The doctor greeted, "My name is Dr. Johansson. Do you know why you're here, Matthew?"

"My dad thinks there's something wrong with me," Matthew answered with a sigh.

His dad chimed in, "Yesterday, I was called to pick up Matthew, because he was caught having sex with a female friend of his from school. When I arrived at the house to bring him home, he shouted at the girl's father and me that he sprayed `white stuff' inside of her. I brought him here to see if he has a hormonal imbalance. If he's telling the truth, he's too young to be producing `white stuff' and to be having sex with other classmates."

Dr. Johansson nodded as she pressed a stethoscope to Matthew's bare chest, "has your son been molested, Mr. McGee?" Matthew heart sank when the doctor asked that question.

"No," Carl answered, "I would know if something like that had happened to him." Dr. Johansson only nodded again and wrapped the stethoscope around her nape, not questioning it any further. For once, Matthew was glad that his dad was a stubborn old mule. "He told me that kids at the school talk about sex."

Dr. Johansson examined Matthew's face, "Your son is already getting acne breakouts. Is it possible that he is beginning to go through puberty?"

"I honestly have no idea." Carl admitted, "I know he has acne, but I don't think he has gotten any further than that, besides the sexual acting out."

"It is entirely possible that he has reached puberty. There's only one way to find out." Dr. Johansson gently lifted up Matthew's arms and inspected Matthew's underarms. "No hair growth there. After I do a physical examination, just take Matthew five doors to the left; a nurse would perform some blood work on Matthew to check his hormone levels." She then turned to Matthew, "If you don't mind, Matthew. I need you to remove your gown for a couple of minutes."

"Sure," Matthew shrugged. He untied the straps behind him and let the gown fall to the ground. The gown was much better getting off than it was getting on. He was thankful the doctor's office allowed him to have a female pediatrician to inspect him. Strange male doctors made the eleven year old wary due to what Ted had done.

Dr. Johansson took a quick gander at Matthew's body, "Congratulations, Matthew. You're growing into a young man. You can go ahead and put your gown back on"

"You can't be serious. He's eleven years old!" Carl squawked as Matthew slid the gown over him.

Dr. Johansson turned to Carl and calmly attempted to explain the situation to him, "He might be eleven, but his testes are starting to develop and he's starting to grow pubic hair. This may come as a shock to you, but your son is physically developing earlier than other boys his age. The only thing you can do is to give him this booklet." Dr. Johansson reached into the drawer of her desk and pulled out a booklet called `Your changing body.' She gave the booklet to Carl. "He's over the age of nine, so he would not be diagnosed with precocious puberty. We're going to check his hormone levels just in case. Just teach him about controlling his sexual urges and everything should be fine."

Carl only nodded. The man appeared to be slowly taking all of the information in. After Matthew was taken to get his blood drawn, he faced an awkward ride home with his father. No "congratulations" for becoming a young man. Carl just acted like Matthew hitting puberty was a complete tragedy by silently brooding over it in the driver's seat. His dad viewed it as a beginning to future problems. A couple of days later, they received a phone call that Matthew's blood work came back normal.

About a week after he and Misty were first caught, the two eleven year olds agreed over the phone to meet in secret. Matthew met up with Misty at a park nearby and rushed to hug her instantly as soon as he saw her. He inhaled the pleasant smell of her soap as he dug his nose into the crevice between her neck and shoulder. He wanted to take her again, even if it was against one of the park benches, but the look she gave him when they finally pulled apart told him that she was on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" He asked her.

Misty sniffled, trying to keep herself from bawling, "My parents are making me leave town. They said they couldn't handle it in Peach Creek anymore and they want to move back to the city."

"What? They can't do that!" Matthew exclaimed.

Misty only folded her arms around herself and shut her eyes. "They've already started packing up everything in the house. Pretty soon I won't be here anymore. They already told me that I should not be around you anymore."

"Those fuckers!" Matthew swore angrily, "We'll run away then. Screw them! We'll live together in that old creepy house Seth's family used to own."

Misty instantly shook her head, "It's not that easy, Matthew. We don't have enough money and our parents would look for us. It's a silly idea!"

"So you just want to be bossed around by your parents forever?" Matthew yelled as he threw his hands up in the air.

Misty gave him a serious look, "No, I want to stay here with you. I just know that it would be pointless to try to run away from them."

"So you're giving up? Am I that useless to you?" Matthew resisted the urge to shake her.

Misty gave him a hard look, "Matthew, I love you. I even wanted to see you one last time before I go. I just can't be with you anymore despite how much I want to. It would be selfish of me to make you give up your life and your future for me." Misty talked with so much maturity, it scared Matthew. She sounded just like an adult for a brief second.

When Matthew wouldn't say anything, Misty broke down. She fell to her knees and sobbed into her hands. "I don't understand them! I have a life in Peach Creek! I have friends and even a boyfriend and they want to take that all away from me! They told me when I went home after I gotten my period, monthly bleeding thing, that I would find someone that I love dearly and I would get pregnant with that someone's baby by having sex with them. I thought I found it with you. You're not like other boys. When I finally fell in love and had sex, they suddenly tell me that it's wrong and I shouldn't be around you anymore. Why?"

Matthew crotched down and held her as she continued to sob out her confusion. "I thought love and sex was supposed to be a beautiful thing. I even thought pregnancy was supposed to be a beautiful thing, but they made me take a pill, called the morning-after pill, to get rid of any baby that might have came as a result from what we had done. The pill made me sick and I now have nightmares of dead babies whenever I go to sleep at night. It's not fair! The sad part is that I wouldn't have minded having a child with you. I don't know what's wrong with me. It feels like I am losing my mind. I can't stop crying and for the first time, I realize that academics are not the most important part of my life. How crazy is that?"

"You're not going crazy, Misty. You're just human." Matthew replied. Even though he was relieved that he would not be a dad at eleven years old, he could kind of understand how Misty could be so traumatized by the events after Matthew went home with his own dad. He knew that women and girls fall in love with a baby before it is even born. His mom told him that she fell in love with him when she was pregnant with him. His dad, however, claimed that he didn't love Matthew until Matthew was first born.

Matthew continued to hold Misty until they said their final goodbye to one another. The hardest thing he had to do was see Misty walk home that day. The girl sobbing as she forced herself to go home. She did love him. That love made Misty a weak, sobbing wreck at Matthew's feet. He did not want to see that side of her. It felt like his heart had hardened the day that Misty was gone from his life.

When he would beat up Sasha, Sasha would often compare Matthew to Damien Thorn, the young main character in `The Omen' who was also the Antichrist; A soulless, heartless character who caused misery and misfortune towards whoever got in his way. God, he wished he was as soulless as Sasha claimed him to be. He would be able to take the news of Misty moving away better.

Later on that night, Matthew drowned out any distractions with the music in his room. Eddy snuck into the room and made the mistake of attempting to touch the Nana Mouskouri poster. He ran towards his younger brother and spun the toddler around by the arm. Eddy quickly shouted "I'm sorry!" when he seen the look in Matthew's eyes.

"You're not fucking sorry!" Matthew shouted. He was already on a very short fuse due to Misty leaving. Now, Eddy had to push him over the top. He'll make that little ankle-biter pay! He started off by slapping Eddy in the face repeatedly. He held Eddy by the arm as he vented his frustrations onto his little brother. Then he punched Eddy several times in the gut, chest, and arms when Eddy held them up to defend himself. Eddy just sobbed loudly until Matthew ran out of steam. Their parents weren't home, so they were the only two who heard Eddy's cries.


	29. Back to Normal?

It had been a month ago that Matthew had yet another freak out that consisted of two to three months of hell. It was in the beginning of September when the latest freak out ceased. He hated summers. He despised them when he first realized that the freak outs prevented him from enjoying the summer with the rest of the world. Instead of pools and barbeque, he was injected with sedatives and received round-the-clock care, prison was no different. Though once it was all over, Matthew returned to normal as if he never had one in the first place. After the freak out he had at age eleven, he returned to school.

During the first three weeks of school, he noticed that Seth looked well-fed, but looked despondent. It took a few weeks before Seth could finally tell Matthew and Lucas what was going on. Matthew's ears perked when he heard Roy's name; Roy also spent the summer in a psychiatric ward at a hospital. The state psychiatric hospital Matthew stayed in the year before shut down in May and mental patients received treatment elsewhere, more suited to a patient's needs or so he heard.

"My mom was screaming something about bed sheets the night Uncle Roy was taken to the nuthouse. He had red marks on his neck." Seth explained while painting a sign for the booth of their scam of the week. "He just got back this morning."

"Bedsheets? What the hell did the crazy old man do to end up there? Pretend to be Casper? Woooo!" Lucas threw his hands up and did a poor imitation of a stereotypical ghost.

"Shut up, Lucas!" Matthew punched Lucas in the arm. "Is Roy alright, Seth?"

Seth shrugged, "he seems fine now. He had coffee with mom right before I got some cereal and went to school."

"I'm sorry to hear about your uncle." A meek voice chimed in from behind them. The three kids turned to see Sasha who was still bond by the jumping rope. "In the Nightmare on Elm Street movie, Freddy Krueger wrapped a sheet around one of the characters' neck to kill them. He hung him like a hangman and the cops in the movie thought the character did it to himself. Maybe that's what your uncle was trying to do to himself."

Seth turned three shades whiter at Sasha's words, nervously clenching and balling up the hem of his shirt. Matthew was the one to speak, "Shut up, Sasha! Nobody cares about some dumb movie. Mind your own fucking business!"

"Ah, what the hell is Sasha even doing here and who the hell put that little geek in a dress and wig?" Lucas asked with extreme displeasure, pointing at the boy who wore a green velvet mock-medieval gown – a dress Matthew took from the middle school theater department that was made for an upcoming school play on Romeo and Juliet. The dress was a couple of sizes too large for the average sized twelve year old preteen. The red curly-haired wig also came from the theater department.

"He's going to be the girl for our kissing booth scam. I figure that Seth can be the boy for the kissing booth and Sasha could be the girl for the kissing booth. I took my mom's red lipstick to put on him." Matthew explained. Due to the fact that Matthew was still trying to get over what happened with Misty, Matthew refused to kiss another girl at the moment. When Seth and Lucas asked him about what happened with Misty and what sex felt like, Matthew refused to answer them. Losing Misty left him in a state of shock that he had not recovered from.

"You've got to be kidding." Seth shook his head, grimacing, "even if you did put lipstick on Sasha, everyone would still know it's him. Let's be honest, would you kiss Sasha? Why not just get one of the girls at this school to do this scam and give her a cut of the profits?"

`Would you kiss Sasha?' Even though the question was rhetorical, Matthew could not help but ponder on the issue. The kiss they were forced to share to satiate Ted's twisted desires was one that Matthew could never forget. His eyes trailed down to Sasha's slightly parted chapped lips and instantly regretted it. He secretly would have kissed Sasha, but he was not going to privy that fact to anyone, "Fuck no, I was thinking that everyone else would be dumb enough to fall for it." Matthew cracked his knuckles, nervously, "Since one of Stacy's friends overheard the conversation my dad had with Misty's dad, every girl in school thinks that I'm going to have sex with them. It wouldn't bother me if it was like a music video where the girls would shake their tits, or mosquito bites in their case, at me, but they just act like I'm disgusting for doing it. I really don't get them."

"No way am I helping you with your scam!" Sasha yelled, "It's your fault, Misty was forced to leave town! You caused me to lose my best friend!"

Matthew clenched his fists and attempted to charge at Sasha, but Seth and Lucas stopped him. "We still need to do the scam. Calm down!" Seth gently chastised him.

"You're right," Matthew pouted, "You can be the booth person. We'll do it without Sasha. I'm too valuable to sell myself for such a cheap price."

Seth rolled his eyes and stood near the booth, waiting for a potential customer. Unfortunately, they met with Darcy and his goons instead. "Oh look, trailer trash is selling himself." Darcy remarked snidely, "I guess his mom's welfare checks that my daddy paid for out of his income tax wasn't enough for the lazy class."

"My mom works as a waitress, you ass!" Seth retorted, scowling.

Matthew immediately opened his mouth after Seth, "The kissing booth is for chicks, only, dumbass. Nobody gives a shit about your stupid dad. Either move out of the way or get lost!"

Darcy shifted his eyes from Matthew to Sasha, "Check it out, the loser's table is desperate to find their Smurfette, since that pig Matthew had sex with moved away."

Matthew charged towards Darcy, but Seth caught him before Matthew could throw a punch at Darcy. Sasha yelled at the boys, "Shut up! Misty was so much better than you idiots!"

Darcy and his crew just chuckled. "We better leave the losers here to cry about their girlfriend. That's all they're good at anyway!" Matthew tried to pull against the hold Seth had on him, but it was no use. Darcy and his friends disappeared, likely heading into their classroom. One of these days, Matthew would fight Darcy again; he could just feel it within his bones.

Matthew made his usual trip to Roy's bomb shelter afterschool. He usually visited Roy every three days when Lucas and Seth were busy with their own lives, four when he went out with Misty. Secretly, Matthew had been hanging out in Roy's bomb shelter since Matthew got released from the hospital. He spent that time trying to make the perfect hot sauce while wondering where Roy had went. Now, that he knew that Roy was home, he decided to see how the man was doing.

When he went inside, Roy was acting quite normally. The man stood over the large freezer in his bomb shelter, cutting a fish over it, the obvious result of Roy going fishing as soon as he gotten back. Roy considered the activities of fishing and hunting to be ancient sports that men used to get back in touch with their primal roots.

"Hey Roy, it's great to see you back," Matthew greeted, "I see that my buckets of hot sauce are still where I left them."

"So you were the one who left that there," Roy replied, "Did you think I wouldn't notice someone making a batch of red hot sauce, drinking up my alcohol, leaving my magazines everywhere, and even playing with my knives? Good thing my guns are all on safety."

"Are you mad?" Matthew asked, flinching.

Roy sighed, setting the fish and the meat cleaver down, "No, I'm not mad. I'm just a bit overwhelmed from coming back today. Anyway, what kind hot sauce is in those buckets?"

"It's my own recipe. I call it 'Armenian Secret Hot Sauce'. It's made from ghost peppers and cure-ree spices. I had to mix it perfectly to get the flavoring right." Matthew remarked, "It was quite difficult, but I've made it. You want to try some?"

Roy shrugged, "I suppose. I'm not even sure what to expect from a hot sauce created by a kid, but I've tried strange cuisine before, so why not? Plus, I've eaten plenty of spicy food before, so whatever you've made should not be too bad. " Roy took one of the empty jars and filled a quarter of the jar full of hot sauce. "Bottoms up!" Roy gulped down the hot sauce until the jar was empty. "It's pretty zesty." Suddenly Roy's face turned bright red and the veteran dashed towards the small fridge in his abode. He cursed and pulled out a carton of milk. Roy chugged it down for a few minutes before finally coming back for air. "Goddamn! That shit can set your whole insides on fire! I don't think you've got hot sauce there. It tastes like hot sauce, but I think you've got a regular torture device."

Matthew laughed, "I thought you liked spicy food."

"Not that spicy!" Roy retorted.

Matthew let out another laugh and then asked seriously, his young facial expression expressing some concern, "What did you go to the nuthouse for? Seth told me that you were there."

"It's nothing you need to worry yourself over, kid. I'm going to be just fine," Roy assured, "I get a bit crazy sometimes, but it goes away."

"I know how that goes," Matthew replied, sympathetically, sitting down on the man's cot. "I've been in the nuthouse twice now. Every time I've think the crazy times have gone away, they've always come back. I can't win for losing!"

"There is no winning or losing when it comes to mental illness. You have to deal with it as you age. It'll be with you for the rest of your life. There is getting better to keep mental illness at bay though. Trust me, after several decades; the Vietnam War and Charlie still gets me down. Mental illness is a never-ending battle, but I trust that you'll learn how to fight it when you get older, kid." Roy ruffled Matthew's hair.

"I hate it," Matthew sniffled.

"You and me both. You and me both." Roy replied. Then the unexpected happened, Matthew received a hug from Roy. The hug was considered a masculine hug that two men use to express a close brother-ship with one another. Matthew was first confused by the hug and why Roy was hugging him. Once Matthew realized that Roy had no intentions of harming him, Matthew hugged the man back. After a while, Roy withdrew from the hug and ruffled Matthew's hair again almost like a father would do for their son. That day, Matthew started to consider Roy like a second father to him.

At the time, Matthew thought he would have Roy by his side forever. Matthew was too naïve to know about the nature of Roy's mental illness and how bad it would get. He was Roy, the guy who taught him how to fight and acted as a mentor to him. Roy never took advantage of him like Ted did or patronized him like his own father did. Roy had the sensitive nature of a mother and the paternal guiding nature of a father to Matthew, that guiding nature was something that Matthew needed for a long time. He never imagined that things would get so bad in a few years time. At that particular moment, things were relatively normal.


	30. A Clockwork Bro

A new guard made a rookie mistake when he got to Matthew's cell; making a passive aggressive about an inmate in front of them. In this particular case, it was over the prison "treating McGee with kid gloves" due to Matthew's mental illness. Matthew broke the guy's arm before he got tasered by another guard. His words to the snippy guard before he received the literal shock of his life were: "Adjust your fucking attitude before an even crazier guy shivs you in the gut, you little cocksucker!"

For his actions, Matthew was barred from receiving what little time he could spend outside of his cell. Matthew only shrugged. The extra time just gave him more time to reflect on past victories he had when he got into fights, such as the one he had when he was eleven against Darcy Bishop.

The night before the fight, Matthew and Seth stayed the night at Lucas' house. Lucas' father was too concerned over his career to give a damn over who Lucas had over at his house during a school night, which was to be expected. It didn't put a hamper on the festivities though. Lucas led Seth and Matthew to his room. Matthew had to admit, this was the first time he ever stayed the night at Lucas' house.

Lucas had vegetable chips, soda, and pizza waiting for them in his room. Lucas had everything a kid from the early nineties could want; an entertainment center, a newish sofa, a queen-sized bed, a couple of arcade machines, and cable TV. The room also contained some personal artifacts of Lucas' such as the golden trophy he won at the talent show, various pictures of the three friends throughout the years, parts of Lucas' projects laying around, and posters of New Wave bands.

"Alright," Lucas announced as Matthew and Seth tossed their backpacks in a random spot in the room, "I took a few R-rated movies from my dad. I doubt he'll even know that they're missing. I figure we can watch them tonight."

"What movies did you get?" Seth arched his eyebrows, impressed.

"I've got Cannibal Holo – whatever that word is, A Clockwork Orange, and Blue Lagoon." Lucas replied, showing them the movie cases, the first one being the case to the movie `Cannibal Holocaust.'

Matthew examined the case to Blue Lagoon, "I'm not watching some sissy love movie." He tossed the movie onto the coffee table.

"Ah, this movie is Italian. If we were to watch the movie, we won't understand half of the shit they say," Seth pointed out, setting `Cannibal Holocaust' onto the table.

"A Clockwork Orange it is." Lucas shrugged, putting the VCR table in the VHS player.

The three watched in awe as the movie started. Just the opening scene of Alex DeLarge, the protagonist of the movie, staring at the camera and drinking from a glass had the three kids transfixed. There was Alex DeLarge winning fights, engaging in sexual intercourse with two girls at once, committing crimes without a care in the world, and most importantly, taking charge. Even as an eleven year old, Matthew appreciated the masterpiece the movie certainly was.

The next morning, Matthew decided to perform some of the old "ultra violence" as the movie called it. Before school, he steeled his nerves like Alex did with the Moloko Plus. He pulled the moonshine Seth had in his book bag and drunk down the bitter-tasting liquid. The incident when Roy had a psychotic episode was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to how many tragedies Seth could deal with. Matthew noticed Seth sipping down moonshine jars he stole from Roy after school before he went home. Matthew did not think too much of it at the time, other than that Seth was becoming an adult faster than he was when it came down to alcohol tolerance.

He had a particular target for his intended destruction; Darcy. The stuck up golden boy was long overdue for beating and Matthew was the one that wanted to take Darcy down a peg or two. For all of times Darcy picked on him and Misty for their weight. For all of the times that Darcy and his goons taunted Seth for being poor. For all the times that Darcy ridiculed Lucas over his Russian ethnicity or his diabetes. One time Darcy and his goons held down Lucas and attempted to stuff sweets into Lucas' mouth, which was nothing usual, considering that they attempted to poison Matthew and Seth with their own food intolerances. Enough was enough!

Matthew searched the school for Darcy 45 minutes before school started. He arrived there when Seth and Lucas were still getting dressed. Despite his enthusiasm, Matthew was apprehensive about the impending fight. Pre-fight jitters were all it was. Matthew might have lost a fight to Darcy once, but he would be damned if he would let it happen again. He was determined to demonstrate all of Roy's teachings to Darcy in the worse way possible.

He found Darcy and his goons, or droogs as the movie would've called them, near the library with their latest victim of the hour; Sasha. Darcy and his goons shoved Sasha around, laughing as they did so. Matthew felt a pang of jealousy hit him right in the gut. He was the only one that was supposed to make Sasha's life a living hell, not these over-privileged brats.

Darcy taunted Sasha as the he and his friends played monkey in the middle with Sasha's book bag, "What's the matter, fag? You got some geeky stuff in your bag you want? Huh?" Darcy tossed it to one of his friends, "Well, too bad!" This scene was strangely reminiscent of the fight scene between Alex DeLarge and Billy Boy. Instead of a screaming naked woman, there was a fully-clothed Sasha. Instead of being equally matched, Matthew had to face the assholes alone.

He didn't care. "Hey fuckwits!" Matthew shouted to get their attention, "You're touching property of mine, so back off! I'm the only one that's allowed to bully him, Capisce?"

Darcy turned toward him and sneered, grabbing a fistful of Sasha's hoodie in his hand, "Your property? I didn't know there was such thing as `bully property.' Is that just another word for `boyfriend,' fatty? Did you go from hogs to fags now?"

"No, I just think you're an amateur at bullying people and wouldn't want my work to get cheapened by your crummy attempts to outdo me." Matthew retorted coolly.

"Oh really, lard butt?" Darcy snapped, "You think you're better than me? I'll wipe the floor with you, you working-class thug!"

"Is that what you think, Darcy? Put your money where your mouth is." Matthew boldly gestured at Darcy to provoke him to fight, "why don't we fight mano a mano. Just you and me!"

Darcy sneered, "You're even stupider than I thought." Darcy was the one who attacked first. Some of the fight was a blur to Matthew. He barely remembered when and where he hit Darcy or even getting hit in return. He just remembered that it was obvious that they both exchanged blows and kicks from how sore Matthew felt when Darcy grappled him to the floor and the bruises that marred the flawless skin of Darcy's face and body.

For a moment, it seemed like Matthew was going to lose the fight against Darcy again. Darcy repeatedly punched him in the face. Sasha was long gone, probably headed out to rat him out again. Even if he did get the upper hand in the fight, there was no guarantee that Darcy's goons wouldn't gang up on him. It seemed like he was in over his head.

Then he heard Darcy's goons shout at some unknown assailant to release them. Matthew opened his eyes and peered to the side. "Seth, Lucas." Matthew coughed as Darcy strangled him. They held onto Darcy's goons, rooting for him to win the fight against Darcy. The spectators of their fight remained silent as if they were watching a fight on TV and didn't want to talk for fear of missing something important.

This gave Matthew the momentum he needed to turn the tables on Darcy. He kicked Darcy in the stomach and pushed Darcy off of him as Darcy's grip on him weakened. He picked up Darcy by the collar and threw the blonde over the table. Matthew quickly pounced on Darcy and lifted Darcy to his feet and banged Darcy's head into the cement wall.

Darcy slipped through Matthew's fingers and started to run away. "Get back here, you chicken shit! We're not done yet!" Matthew growled as he chased after Darcy. Darcy climbed on top of a bookshelf in the library like a scared cat. Roy taught him to be aware of his surroundings in a fight and Matthew realized that Darcy made a grave mistake.

That particular bookshelf was never particularly study. The times Matthew chased Sasha around the library taught him that. Even the slightest bump would cause the heavy bookshelf to wobble. It almost fell over on Matthew one time. All in all, the bookshelf was not a safe place to climb up and Matthew knew it.

Matthew decided to show Darcy the error of his ways by pushing the bookshelf down. Darcy did not have time to save himself when the bookshelf tumbled down to the ground. Darcy fell like a disgraced king falling off a cliff. If this was chess, the fight would've resulted in a checkmate. Matthew won the fight, whether or not the victory was considered fair.

Darcy wailed at the weight of the bookshelf crushing his leg. The principal and librarian rushed into library at the sound of the crash. "Help! Help me!" Darcy wailed, "It hurts! It hurts so bad!" Darcy then pointed to Matthew, "He was the one who pushed the bookshelf on me!"

The principal grabbed a walkie-talkie and phoned in a janitor to help him lift up the bookshelf. Matthew started to leave, but his principal grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, "where do you think you're going McGee? After Mr. Bishop is freed, you are coming with me to my office where I'm calling your parents and-" The principal then got a good whiff of Matthew's breath, "Have you been drinking alcohol, McGee?"

Needless to say, Matthew ended up in trouble after that. He received an out of school suspension for a month for what he did to Darcy and for the principal smelling alcohol on his breath. He was also grounded by his parents as soon as his mom picked him up from school. That did not stop him from escaping out of the window when his parents went to sleep.

He visited Roy when his parents went to bed and shared the news with Roy about the fight. Roy seemed impressed by Matthew's small progress, considering that Matthew originally lost a fight to Darcy. However, this did not last very long when Roy gently reminded him that he still needed to beat Roy in a fight before his training was over. Matthew huffed, typical Roy. During his suspension from school, he continued his training with Roy. Since he didn't have school and his parents started to leave Pipsqueak with their grandpa while they work, he had plenty of time to train with Roy. He was going to beat Roy one day and find out what Roy hidden under his hat.

The atmosphere he returned to school a month later was extremely unusual. People who didn't give him the time of day suddenly wanted to chat with him, Seth, and Lucas. They went from kids that people barely noticed to the cool kids overnight due to Matthew winning a fight against Darcy. After the initial shock wore off, Matthew reveled in the new attention bestowed unto him.

At the lunch table, Matthew was updated on what had happened when he was gone. Seth, Lucas, and Darcy's goons received an in-school suspension for their passive roles in the fight between Matthew and Darcy. Seth would've gotten longer if the principal looked through his bag and found the alcohol Seth kept in there or if Matthew ratted on him and didn't lie to the principal a lie about how a hobo gave him a sip of booze in exchange for a few measly dollars. Darcy, himself, received only three weeks of out of school suspension for the fight. Considering Darcy's wealthy parents and the fact that a bookshelf fell on Darcy's leg, it was a miracle that Darcy gotten that long. Darcy also walked around with crutches. The bookshelf shattered the bone in Darcy's leg. Even months after Darcy was taken off of crutches, he still walked with a limp and could no longer compete in sports.

Things were starting to go Matthew's way.


	31. Fighting the Tin Soldier as His Equal

Matthew couldn't help but wonder what was hidden underneath the hats of some people. He usually was able to tell who wore a hat as an accessory and who wore a hat to cover up something embarrassing. The way a person wore their hat, the way a person would go to great lengths to avoid being seen without their hat, and how much the person avoided the subject were all tell-tale signs that a person used their hat to hide something. It was almost always to hide the effects of balding, a bad haircut, or even a visible scar . . .

_"Why's your girlfriend wearing a sock on her head?" _He knew that Edd had something hidden underneath his hat when Edd was just an adorable but socially awkward twelve year old when Matthew first laid eyes on him. Unveiling that little scar on his princess's head a few years later gave Matthew a certain sense of déjà vu. The mystery of figuring out what was under Edd's hat was too eerily similar to the time Matthew found out what was behind Roy's hat.

It was about a year after the altercation between him and Darcy. At twelve years old, Matthew felt like the James Dean of the school: A rebel without a cause. He would never fit in with the rigid standards of Darcy, Stacy, and their group, but he still had kids who envied him and who would socialize with him and his friends on a regular basis. `The School Legend' was the nickname kids in Peach Creek gave him. Matthew had no idea if he was given that nickname out of fear or admiration, but it did not matter. Both looked the same to him at the end of the day.

However, there was one more major goal Matthew wanted to achieve since he was younger; figuring out what was underneath Roy's hat. Matthew even at the age of twelve knew that the task would not be easy or pain-free. Roy's training was brutal and Matthew had yet to win a fight against Roy. Matthew liked to think that Roy's training was toughening him up with each lesson. He had to be making process. He defeated Darcy in a fight. He was going to finally beat Roy in a fight. He had a plan.

On his way to Roy's bomb shelter, he noticed Seth getting into the car with the older brother of an acquaintance of theirs. When Matthew was first introduced to the nineteen year old, his first instinct was that the guy looked like bad news. He couldn't adequately describe the guy's looks other than that the guy looked like a zombie from a dumb horror movie. The guy was actually a complete junkie as Matthew would later find out.

Matthew had to coax Roy out of his safe haven for over an hour before the man even agreed to come out of the bomb shelter. Dark blonde locks covered Roy's crazed yet gentle green eyes and the middle-aged man still donned the military-esque clothes he often wore. The only difference was that Roy was armed to the teeth as if he were preparing for another war. Matthew had been able to talk the man down, somewhat. Roy removed the gun holsters from his person, but would not get rid of the buck knifes from the sheaths that were strapped to his thighs.

Matthew only shrugged. At least Roy was lucid enough to continue their training that day. As long as Roy appeared fine, that's all Matthew needed to continue on with the training. To Matthew's young mind, psychotic episodes were like the common cold. People could bounce back from them with little consequence, including his own.

The training went off as it normally did. Matthew would face the brunt of Roy's attacks while trying to dodge most of them. He was getting better at dodging attacks and even dishing them out. He was able to outrun Roy and head out into the forest as quickly as he imagined a soldier would run from an enemy. He then set his plan into motion.

He reached into his bag and grabbed several plastic snakes and a slingshot. The plastic snakes look like the real thing, which is going to serve the next part of his plan well. He rested for a moment to catch his breath. His own stamina has been improving since he first started training with Roy. That was not the only thing that had improved. His reflexes were better. He was growing tougher and quick-minded with each day that Roy trained him. Matthew's own physique was starting to become lithe and much skinnier than he had been in a long time. His confidence in his own abilities was improving and he would be able to show Roy what he could do.

He placed a plastic snake on the slingshot and cocked it back. When he released the pocket of the slingshot, the plastic snake flung several feet away from where he stood. He ran further down the forest and shot plastic snakes in every direction that he could think of. The time Roy had gotten spooked over an actual snake was the reason for the decoy in the first place. While he was no longer foolish enough to believe that Roy would run the other way screaming from a snake, the plastic snakes would provide a useful distraction for what he had planned next.

He crouched down in the bushes and waited for Roy to appear. While he waited he returned the slingshot back into his backpack. His legs and buttocks started to become numb the longer he stayed crouched down behind a large bush. After a while, he started to assume that Roy would never even show up.

Roy suddenly appeared crouching like a panther and approaching one of the plastic snakes. "That little brat was here." Roy remarked, picking up and tossing the toy snake out of the way.

While Matthew didn't expect Roy to figure out the snakes were fake, he still had enough of a distraction to finally catch Roy off guard. Matthew used the cover of the bush to trip Roy. Roy fell down like an upturned glass. Matthew did not wait for Roy to lift himself back up before pouncing on the adult. He pinned Roy's wrists down similar to how he assumed a police officer would to arrest an individual. He noticed old faint scars on the man's arms but decided not to ask about them.

They tussled on the leaf and twig covered ground. The twigs on the ground broke parts of his skin in streaks of red. Matthew was determined not to let a few cuts and scrapes stop him from getting what he wanted. Nor would he let the feeling the uncomfortable feeling of his slingshot digging into his back from his backpack stop him either. He was so close. The surprising part of this particular training session was that he was fighting Roy as an equal and not as a kid that rode on the man's coattails like he was before. He could almost taste the savory taste of success upon the tip of his tongue.

Matthew pinned Roy to the ground. His knees pinning Roy's shoulders to the ground prevented Roy from moving much. Matthew had won a round against Roy. He had finally won one. His eyes gazed down at his prize with brazen fascination. He swiped at the hat like a playful kitten and scanned over Roy's exposed scalp when the brown cap tumbled to the ground.

An inch and a half from Roy's hairline was a long jagged scar that was visible even through Roy's dark blonde locks. Even with Roy's age, the man still had a full set of hair. Matthew small finger traced every inch of the scar while Roy turned his head, out of embarrassment. Matthew had found the crack in the tin soldier.

"How did you get this scar?" Matthew asked, curiously.

"I got it back in Vietnam." Roy answered, "I was captured by a couple of soldiers from the Viet Cong army and was dragged to some small house that I barely remember. They shouted at me in Vietnamese, but I don't recall what they told me. All I could smell was the stench of death on them. They took out a used knife on me and decided to cut my scalp open. If the scar would've been deeper, I would've became paralyzed and possibly brain damaged. The only thing I remember after that is waking up back on base with my superior telling me that he was going to send me packing with an honorable discharge after my head injury healed. My long term memory is fucked now. It's like I can remember faces and names from particular moments in my life, but there are holes in my memory of shit I should remember, you know?"

"Shit." Matthew did not know what to say as he took it all in with an uneasy expression on his face. The life of a soldier was not as glamorous as he made it out to be. "When you were bleeding in the bathroom, that time on my birthday, what caused that scar?"

"I don't think you can handle the truth, kid." Roy replied with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Bullshit, Roy!" Matthew snapped. "Stop treating me like some damn kid! I just beat you in a fair fight, so I at least deserve some damn honesty from you."

"Listen kid, there's some things that I would like to keep to myself. What I was trying to do that day is one of the things I would rather keep to myself." Roy explained.

"No more secrets, Roy!" Matthew hollered indignantly, causing Roy to blink owlishly in shock. "I'm not letting you go until you tell me!"

"Look kid," Roy huffed, trying to find the words to say. "Do you even know what it's like to regret most of the decisions that you've ever made in your entire life? To feel like you are a piece of shit and should not even be around? To feel like pain is one of the only temporary reliefs to your problems?"

Matthew mulled over what Roy was even saying. To temporarily cause oneself pain? What a ridiculous notion. Matthew couldn't even fathom why Roy would think that way. His mind quickly flashed to the time Seth tried to shoot himself with one of Roy's guns. Nothing was clicking inside of his head. He felt like he should know what Roy was even talking about, but his naivety limited his knowledge on the issue. It was similar to a high school student understanding Shakespeare.

"So I guess that I won't be seeing you anymore since our training is done." Matthew croaked, unable to answer Roy's questions, though his silence on the issue probably answered more questions than his young lips ever could.

Roy sighed. "I never said that. You're still welcome to see me any time you want to."

"Really?" Matthew asked in disbelief.

A small smile graced Roy's features. "Really."

"Thank you Roy." Matthew tried to contain his excitement. At the time, it seemed that he could visit Roy forever. If only he would have known how limited his time with the Vietnam War veteran would've been. How naïve he was to not notice the obvious troubles lurking ahead.

A/N: Sorry for the hiatus. I've been having quite a few irl issues happen lately, most of them good. I'll try to update whenever I get a chance to. Just remain patient until then. Until then, enjoy the chapter! Also, one of the toughest things to fight is a blow-by-blow fight scene. I'm sorry, but it's difficult to write one for me.


	32. The Death of a Soldier

The memory of Roy was still fresh in his mind as if Roy's death had happened the day before. Matthew had never gotten over Roy's death despite the event happening over a decade ago. The man's memory caused two distinct reactions from Matthew. Matthew either regarded Roy as a father figure and the best man that ever lived on his good days or he viewed Roy as a selfish prick who hurt him too on his worst days. There was no middle ground.

The day before Roy had died. Matthew decided to visit Roy like he had always done for a few years previously. It was a nice spring day after a harsh winter that Matthew jokingly compared to the kind of weather that Russians and Canadians were used to. The trees were just starting to bud leaves and the grass was green again. It was the kind of days that people normally would associate with positive events such as weddings or family picnics.

Matthew arrived at the bomb shelter that Roy called home wearing a yellow jersey over a black tee shirt. He drummed his fingers on his pants, excited to see the man again. So far it seemed like everything was normal. Roy had picked out a decent sized duck to make duck stew out of. Roy had told him once that mustard took out the gamey taste of ducks.

"You're just in time, kid, dinner's almost ready." Roy replied, stirring the pot. "I also got you a gift that's going to be a surprise until after dinner."

Matthew snorted and then asked inquisitively. "It's not my birthday yet, Roy. What's the occasion?"

"You'll find out after dinner, alright?" Roy replied.

Matthew sighed. "Fine! I hate waiting for surprises."

"You'll get used to it." Roy snickered. Something was off. Matthew could not pinpoint what felt wrong about the whole situation that night, but something was terribly off. "Were you the one that convinced Seth to get a Mohawk?"

Matthew shook his head. "He got that idea on his own. He even wants to dye it green or black."

"That's . . . well . . . different, but I'm not going to pass judgment on him for it. Styles come and go." Roy replied. "Before I was set off to Vietnam, I was a hippie flower child. I grew my hair out and wore tie-dyed shirts. I also experimented with drugs."

"No way!" Matthew exclaimed.

"It's true. I was a hippie before I was drafted into the war." Roy confirmed.

"How did you go from being a hippie to being how you are today?" Matthew asked curiously.

Roy shrugged. "Age changes people." Roy stopped stirring the stew and turned off the stove. "Well, dinner's done."

Small banter was exchanged while they ate their meals, mostly on the subject of school and Matthew's family. The meat tasted a bit strange to the thirteen year old, but the stew wasn't too bad. He imagined that the meal is similar to what his ancestors feasted upon when they first settled into Peach Creek. Matthew had himself a second helping of the stew after he finished his first bowl. Roy, himself, only ate a bowl of the stew.

After he finished the second helping, Matthew asked Roy. "So what did you want to give me? I bet its money or one of your guns. It's one of your guns, ain't it?"

"You'll find it." Roy replied. "You just need to close your eyes first."

"Alright, fine! I'll bet anything that it's one of your guns." Matthew closed his eyes and waited for the surprise. He heard Roy approach him. The next thing Matthew knew, Roy placed something on top of his head. It wasn't one of Roy's guns.

"You can open your eyes, kid." Roy spoke up.

Matthew opened his eyes and took off whatever was on his head. He looked from the brown cap to Roy's now hatless head. Excitement quickly turned into confusion as Matthew tried to understand why Roy gave him his hat, the hat that the man wore often. "I don't get it." Matthew stated his confusion. "Why are you giving me the hat that you wear everywhere you go to cover up that scar on your head. Did you get a new one or something?"

"No," Roy replied, strangely. "Can you keep a secret, Matthew?"

Matthew narrowed his eyes. "Alright, what's going on here? You wouldn't give me your hat – the same hat that you wear constantly. Something is up! You're acting strange, Roy."

"Can you keep a secret, Matthew?" Roy asked, his eyes alert and focused yet vacant at the same time. It was like looking at a porcelain doll's face.

Matthew lips tightened before he spoke up again. "Keep a secret? You know I'm not going to snitch on you, but it would help if I knew what the hell is going on. You're scaring me, Roy!"

"You're like a son to me, Matthew." Roy admitted. "It's going to break my heart to do this, but it's something I've got to do. I'm leaving in the morning, Matthew. You might not see me again after tonight."

"What?! You're leaving?! Why?!" Matthew shouted. Roy couldn't leave him. He would follow Roy to the ends of the earth if he had to. "You haven't even packed up your cool shit!"

Roy had a blank expression upon his face which scared Matthew even more. "I won't need my stuff to the place where I'm going. I can't risk putting my family in further risk for the people who are after me. You can understand that, can't you?"

"I – I suppose I can." Matthew started to sniffle. Damn, he couldn't even keep his emotions in check in front of Roy and the man was expecting him to handle the news like a man.

Roy only smiled. "I knew I can count on you, Matthew."

"What about Seth? Are you going to tell him?" Matthew asked, meekly.

Roy shook his head. "Seth wouldn't understand. It would crush him, so I'm leaving a note behind for him when I leave."

"Can – can I at least stay the night before you leave?" Matthew asked.

Roy nodded softly. "I don't see why not, but you can't follow me in the morning. Do you understand me, Matthew?"

"Yes, Roy." Matthew muttered, not liking the idea of Roy leaving one bit.

"Speak up, Matthew. I could barely hear you." Roy demanded.

Matthew spoke louder, "Yes, Roy. I won't follow you in the morning."

"Good." Roy replied, patting Matthew on the back. "You're a good kid, so it pains me to leave you behind."

That night was unforgettable to Matthew. Try as he might to enjoy every last moment he could with Roy, sleep overtook him. When he awoke the next morning, Roy was nowhere to be seen. Matthew had seen several sheets of paper on the dresser in the room; the only thing in the bomb shelter that seemed out of place. Matthew lifted himself up from the beat up couch and headed outside after putting on Roy's old hat.

The first thing he saw when he left the bomb shelter was Seth absentmindedly kicking rocks and taking a drag from the cigarette stub in his mouth. Seth scowled when he examined Matthew. "Where the fuck is Uncle Roy and why are you wearing his fucking hat?"

"You didn't see where he went? He told me that he was leaving." Matthew informed Seth. "Also, for your information, Roy gave me this hat."

Seth advanced on him and grabbed at Matthew's shirt. "Uncle Roy wouldn't just leave without saying anything to my mom, especially not without his goddamn hat, you fucking liar! Where is he?"

"Back the fuck up! I don't know where the hell he is, so chill out before I knock you on your ass, Seth." Matthew barked as he pushed Seth off him.

The sound of a gunshot in the distance broke the two from their quarrel. The sound was ear-deafening, which broke the peace of the quiet trailer park. "What the hell was that?" Matthew asked.

"That sounds like one of my uncle's guns." Seth suggested. "Let's go check it out."

Matthew and Seth blinding followed the brief sound to the forested area that separated the cul-de-sac from the trailer park, the place where Roy trained Matthew to fight. Matthew did not have time to dwell on breaking his promise to Roy of not trying to follow him. They followed the sound all the way to a sight that they should have never seen in their entire lives.

Roy lay motionless underneath a tree like a broken marionette. A revolver was held in Roy's hand. Brain matter and blood covered the tree and the grass below. Roy's eyes were dull and lifeless as if someone replaced the eyes Matthew knew quite well with glass eyes. Roy left to a place where Matthew could never follow him.

Suicide was a word that was never in his vocabulary at the time of Roy's death. He was just thirteen at the time. Sure, he knew about how Romeo and Juliet died and even heard about cases involving people who ended their own lives, but he never understood what drove the people to kill themselves. Most importantly, he never understood why Roy chose to kill himself instead of fighting whatever enemies the forty-something year old thought he had.

The foul smell of death permeated through the air. The smell alone was enough to cause Matthew to hunch over and empty out the contents of his stomach. Even after he vomited, he heaved as if he had to vomit again. Thoughts raced in his mind. Part of those thoughts was hope that Roy's death was just a bizarre nightmare that he would wake up from.

He barely heard Seth scream for his own mom repeatedly like a lost child looking for their parents. Matthew turned and seen a rare sight that he never thought he'd seen; Seth with tears in his eyes. Seth's cheeks were red-hot and salty tears streamed down his face. Time appeared to go by too slowly. It seemed like forever until he could hear Seth's mother's calling Seth in the distance, her footprints getting louder as she gotten closer.

"Seth, honey, what's wrong? What's – Oh my God! N-no!" Seth's mother collapsed onto the ground, screaming as she cried to mourn the brother that she lost. Not too many people survive a gunshot wound to the head. The ones that do did not have the life leave their eyes like Roy's did. That did not stop Seth's mother from trying to shake her brother awake futilely until she gave up and sobbed on her brother's corpse.

After several minutes, Seth's mother dragged Seth and him back to the trailer, sobbing all the way there. By then, Matthew felt emotionally numb. He was just going from one destination to another like a robot. Seth's mother phoned in the police as soon as she walked in the door to report her brother's suicide to the police. She then had gotten suspicious of Matthew wearing Roy's hat like Seth had and asked why Matthew was wearing it.

"Roy gave it to me last night." Matthew defended himself. "It's true. He told me that he was going somewhere and not to follow him. I think he left Seth a note before he-"

"The police are coming. I think they're going to ask you boys a few questions." Seth's mother sniffled, wiping her eyes with a tissue. "I don't know what to tell either of you, but Roy wasn't murdered. He shot himself. He did th-that to himself. Oh Go-God!" Seth's mother wailed, sobbing into her tissue. Seth and him sat at the old kitchen table like dolls, unable to react to the news.

The police treated the area Roy shot himself and the bomb shelter like a crime scene. Standard procedure, Matthew supposed. They questioned Matthew and Seth over the events leading to the suicide. Matthew answered the cops as honestly as he could. The cop who interviewed him was the same one that was there when he beat up the teens that was harassing Misty; Officer Mike.

After the interviews were over, Matthew eavesdropped on Officer Mike who pulled another officer to the side. "What do you, Mike?" The officer asked. "Seems like the infamous `Crazy Roy' took his last ride."

"By the looks of it, I'd say a suicide, Frank." Mike replied. "The notes, the position of Roy's body, the history of suicide attempts. Not to mention that Roy owned the pistol he shot himself with. It's a damn shame he involved a kid in his plans. It's a damn shame."

Matthew huffed and stomped away. "Fucking pigs." Matthew muttered. It wasn't long before he was taken home by the police. The reason for it was to let Seth and his mother grieve. The days after Roy's death, everything started getting complicated.


	33. Keeping friends in line

Roy's funeral was a blur to Matthew. The only things he remembers is Roy's casket being covered with the American flag and meeting the intimidating personalities of some of Roy's family members. He remembered he was starting to lose control after the funeral. He was desperately trying to regain some of that control back.

Matthew took to spending hours within the forest with a baseball bat. He beat the trees in the forest with the baseball bat until his hands were extremely sore. He yelled obscenities at no one in particular. He cursed out Roy for being selfish enough to leave him behind to deal with the mess that makes up the very essence of life, itself. He was mad. He was mad at the world, mad at Roy, mad at himself mostly.

Seth and Lucas made the mistake of interrupting him. Seth's irritating voice messed with his concentration. "Matthew, it's time to stop this, man. You're just pissing yourself off even more by doing this shit. Roy, he's – He's not coming back. It's something that we both need to accept. If you just put the ball bat down, we can talk about this, man."

"Don't preach at me, you piece of shit!" Matthew snapped. If he wasn't going to get control of his own life, he was going to break down his so-called friends. He was going to destroy what little self-esteem they even had. "Neither one of you two are in a position to tell me what to do. In fact, you're – oh what's that word – inferior to me!"

"The fuck we are." Lucas snapped back before Seth could silence him. "You're just a fat megalomaniac!"

Matthew snorted. "You want to be first to find out why, Lucas? Let me paint a very clear picture of why you would never be my equal. You're too much of a social retard to even function like everyone else. You couldn't even make friends besides me and Seth without paying anyone. Gee, I wonder if you would even get your dick wet in the future without paying some whore to do it for you. Even then, you would fuck that up. So that leaves you living off your parent's money until you decide to do the smart thing and put a gun into your mouth and pull the fucking trigger –"

"Matthew, that's enough!" Seth shouted. Matthew could see that his words have knocked Lucas into his proper place if Seth was going to try to be Lucas' knight in shining armor.

Matthew sneered, "You think you can tell me what to do, junkie? – Or are you too high to realize that I'm right?"

"Stop it, Matthew," Seth hissed.

Matthew shook his head. "No, Seth. I won't. Let's talk about your little drug problem, shall we? How times today have you stuck a damn needle in your damn arm today? Was it once or twice today? You're going to end up like those people on COPS that get busted for prostitution for sucking someone's dick. Perhaps even Lucas' dick."

"Shut the hell up, Matthew." Seth barked.

Matthew snorted, defiantly, "What are you going to do if I don't, tough guy?"

"L-Lucas and I could whoop your ass." Seth shot back, scowling.

Matthew fought the urge to laugh. These two thought that they had a single chance of knocking him down off of his figurative throne. He was not going to let that happen. Who the hell did they think they were to make such assumptions? Not without a good fight – and it's been coming for a long time if anyone asked him. He gave his best faux-innocent smile and gestured for them to try their best. "C'mon, shitheads. I haven't got all night."

Lucas' face fell when he got a glimpse at his friend. Even with that oversized, expensive grey and white striped sweater on, Matthew knew that frail, overly privileged brat could be broken with two punches. Apparently, Lucas knew it too. The brunette boy pushed past Seth and ran into the forest like a scared rabbit. A snort of amusement was Matthew's reaction to such a pathetic display.

Seth shouted after Lucas. "Get back here, you damn cow-coward!" Seth took one look at Matthew and trembled. He still had some brains left in that drug-addicted head of his. "Shit." Seth cursed, backing up like a heroine from some horror movie. Neither one of these so-called "boys" could even match him when it came to masculinity, so he would not think of them as such. "Fuck this shit." Seth cried out, following Lucas' example and running deep into the forest.

Matthew followed after them, leaving his baseball bat behind. He could beat them within an itch of their life without it. He followed Roy's teachings and listened closely to the sounds of the forest. As Roy would say, even the smallest animal makes a sound that you could hear if you listen carefully. The faintest sound of feet crunching twigs and leaves could be heard in the distance. Two sets of feet heading in separate directions.

Matthew followed the footsteps that sounded like a bunny scurrying around. He started to feel like a famous horror movie villain that targeted hapless teenagers. Should he feel bad that his only true friends were running from him, terrified? He pondered on that question for a bit. His pesky conscious told him not to do it. However, his most animalistic needs told him to put a muzzle on his stupid friends before they even think of leaving him like Roy did.

The sound of footsteps he followed turned out to be Lucas. Lucas shouted obscenities when he saw Matthew and tried to hurry along the directionless path that not even he knew where he was heading in the thick forest. The brunette's oversized sweater was covered in dead leaves. Lucas always complained that he got cold too easily, even in nice spring weather. The brunette's legs wobbled in tight blue jeans. The frail boy was getting worn down.

Matthew ran faster and jumped on Lucas' back, knocking the frightened thirteen year old to the ground. Lucas screamed in terror when he hit the ground along with Matthew. Lucas scrambled to get away, but Matthew grabbed Lucas' ankles before Lucas could escape him.

"Got you, you damn pussy!" Matthew hissed as he pulled Lucas towards him. Lucas feebly kicked at Matthew, but Matthew twisted Lucas' ankle to prevent Lucas from trying to kick him any further. He ducked a couple of punches Lucas threw at him and tightened his hold on Lucas' ankle. The other teen wailed and clawed at the dirt in a last attempt to get away.

Matthew got on top of Lucas, a dark smile plastered on his face. The bloodlust could be tasted in the air, as the coppery bittersweet taste teased Matthew's taste buds without the teen even opening his mouth to savor it. As much as Matthew would love to break loose the chains that separated him from some strong primal animal like a wolf, he felt nothing but the slightest bit of pity for the male underneath him. He only wanted to make sure that Lucas would never double-cross him or leave him.

He grabbed the exposed neck and put the slightest bit of pressure on it. Lucas gargled against the pressure and flailed, leaves clinging to his oversized sweater like the plastic leaves on a whimsical scarecrow Halloween ornament. "Let me go, you bastard." Lucas cursed, trying to pry Matthew's hands from his neck.

"No, not until you learn that you're a piece of shit that is nothing without me. Nothing!" Matthew snarled. "Your money can't buy you a way out of this, Lucas. You're my pawn. You're nothing but my pawn, you piece of shit."

Lucas' pale face started going blue. His arms weakly struggled until he croaked. "I'm nothing, Matthew, I'm nothing." Tears came down like a stream and he continued his lament. "Barely anybody wanted to be around me before you came along. Why would they? What do I have to offer people besides money?"

Matthew was satisfied with Lucas' answer and released his grip from Lucas' neck. "It's about time you grew a damn brain. Now if you move a muscle, I'll end you. Don't think for a second that I won't cross that line."

Matthew ran off further into the forest. Seth might have had a slight advantage of being more athletic than him, but Matthew still had Roy's teachings at his disposable and was determined to show Seth exactly what Seth's uncle taught him. After a while of running, he heard footsteps hitting branches and knew exactly where Seth was heading.

Seth was heading to the trailer park. `That fucking narc!' Matthew thought to himself. Seth was more than likely heading to tell his dear old mom about what happened in the forest. The thought just added fuel to Matthew's anger. Seth was not even going to attempt to fight. Matthew wanted to beat the self-righteous out of Seth twice as hard for his insolence.

He quickly caught up to Seth anyway, blocking the path that Seth planned on crossing. The boy stopped dead in his tracks with a deer-in-highlights look in his eyes. "Where are you going in such a hurry, Seth?" Matthew asked in a saccharine voice. "You weren't planning on telling your dear, sweet mom about me promising to whoop your ass, were you? You know how I feel about narcs, Seth."

"You're going insane, Matthew. Please, for the love of God, get some help. Seriously . . ." Seth attempted to reason with him.

"I don't need help." Matthew laughed coldly, which caused Seth to flinch at the sound. "What I need more than anything in the world is for you to follow me like a good dog! What better way to make you behave than to show you what your uncle taught me."

"Like hell I'll follow you and allow you to hurt me or Lucas." Seth snapped. "My uncle should have never taught you how to fight. I don't care why he did it! All I care about is teaching you to show some damn respect to me and Lucas. We're the only true friends you've got, you dumbass!"

"Respect has to be earned, Sethy boy!" With those words, Matthew charged at Seth, raising his fist to strike at his friend. Seth blocked his attack with his forearm and countered it with a punch to Matthew's gut. The thirteen year old boy had to admit, Seth could certainly hit hard enough to be challenge to him, but he'll see who would be the better man in the situation.

The two teens exchanged blows, kicks, and even dodged each other's attacks at times. Seth was a good fighter when he wanted to be. As they tussled on the ground, Matthew wondered if Roy taught Seth a few pointers. Seth managed to give him a black eye during their struggle for dominance. The fight ended when Matthew lifted himself up from the ground and grounded his foot into Seth's neck.

"Beg me to stop, you fucker!" Matthew panted from the fight. Seth gave him a defiant look, even with a stream of blood running from his nose to his neck. Matthew gritted his teeth and shouted while he pressed his foot into Seth's neck. "I said beg me for mercy, you fucking asshole. Tell me what you learned from this."

Seth choked from the pressure. Matthew wasn't entirely sure how long Seth could hold out, but Matthew soon found out once Seth's hoarse voice finally spoke. "Fine, Matthew. I-I give, alright? I won't go against you ever again. I'll follow you anywhere you go. Just please – Let me go. I can't – I can't fucking breathe!"

Matthew gotten the answer he wanted and lifted his foot from Seth's throat. Seth unsteadily lifted himself up from the ground and massaged his own neck. Matthew could see his handprints there as clear as day. Somehow putting his friends in their place only partially filled the void in his violent chaos-ridden heart. He needed power over someone else. Someone like – Sasha.


	34. Feeding the Beast

Matthew was pleased when his porn magazines – mail arrived to his cell. The thing that pissed him off regarding getting porn in prison was that the officials, or whatever doofus they had behind the scenes, censored the sexual organs in the porn with ugly black marker scribbles. While the pictures were still suggestive even after being defaced by prudish prison officials, it still infuriated him that they would go to that extreme.

The contents within the magazines contained well-endowed women taking it in one of her three holes and lithe barely legal guys getting fucked by middle aged men old enough to be their fathers. He collected both types of magazines. His dick couldn't tell the difference between the two, so why make a decision on what to choose?

While masturbation can be a delightful distraction from his confinement, it didn't quite compare to the real thing. He never felt as sexually pent up since he was a preteen. During that time, he denied himself the pleasure he could experience only by bending over another man and taking what was rightfully his. He let the opinions of sheep take control over what he truly desired; the desire to sexually dominate both sexes without remorse.

Sasha sat in his room, completely oblivious to the other preteen watching him. The redhead listened to music in his dark green pajamas. He was bobbing his head rhythmically to the sound of his radio. It was one of the insufferable dance hits that "defined" the 1990s years later to some people. It was the kind of track that had female vocals throughout most of the song and then had a rapper belt out a few lines in the middle of the song.

It was the perfect time to make his move on the redhead. Sasha's mother was out getting groceries and Sasha's father was at work. The music was loud enough, Matthew could sneak into the window and Sasha probably would not take any notice that he had a visitor until it was too late. The rat bastard had it coming for a long time.

He jumped from the tree branch to the window in Sasha's room. It was almost the same as he remembered it, except it contained posters of the latest horror movies and popular musicians. Toys were replaced with models and collectables. Sasha still owned a Dungeons and Dragons board game that he seen Misty and Sasha play with the last time he spied on Sasha. Sasha's basset hound was nowhere in sight. `The old mutt probably died.' Matthew thought grimly.

Matthew picked up what looked like a mummified hand and threw it at Sasha's head. The other boy flinched when the mummified made contact and shouted out in pain. "What – what the heck?" Sasha shouted, holding the side of his head and looking bewilderedly towards the direction the hand was thrown. The look on his face quickly changed to that of exasperation and worry. "What the heck are you doing in my room? Get out before I call the cops."

The twelve year old noticed the slightest twitches of Sasha's knuckles as he attempted to appear tough to the other preteen, but Matthew chose not to comment on it. "If you even call the cops, I'll murder you before they even show up." He whispered venomously. Even Sasha's trembling could barely satiate the beast within the twelve year old. "In fact, why are you allowed to be alive when good people die – good heroic people?"

"Excuse me? What are you talking about?" Sasha had no idea what he was even talking about. It was like venting Roy's death to a damn wall. "Have you gone crazy – uh, crazier?"

"What am I talking about? WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT?" Matthew roared as Sasha attempted to retreat from the room. "Where the fuck are you going?" He grabbed the back of Sasha's pajamas and pulled him back. "I'm talking about Roy and his death. That's what I'm talking about!"

"Roy? Crazy Roy is dead?" Sasha knew as much about Roy as the rest of the damn class knew about him. `Have you heard about Crazy Roy? He died in the woods near the cul-de-sac in town.' 'You mean that weird old guy who chases after kids that come near those woods?' Kids from his class would gossip to each other. Matthew didn't even know Roy had a reputation for chasing kids away from the woods until after Roy died. It infuriated him even more that Sasha of all people would view Roy in the light as everyone else did. He couldn't let that slide.

"'Crazy Roy.' His name was Roy Lovering, you fucker." Matthew scoffed. "You of all people should show him some goddamn respect!" Matthew's fist connected with the back of Sasha's head in a fit of rage.

Sasha yelped and held onto the back of his head, attempting to shimmy out of his pajama top. "What – what do you want from me? I didn't know Cra- Roy. I swear I didn't even know him."

Matthew hooked his leg around Sasha's waist and dropped his elbow on Sasha's shoulder. "What do I want?" Matthew reiterated, with a twisted grin. "I want you to shut your goddamn mouth for once. I want you to beg for mercy even when I beat the shit out of you. Do you understand?"

Sasha nodded hurriedly which caused the beast inside the twisted twelve year old to purr. He assumed that the only thing that would satiate his desires was to draw blood. Wasn't that the reason why he came to Sasha's house was to beat up Sasha like he did to his friends? His darker side or his beast, so to speak, seemed to agree.

"You want to play surgeon, Sasha?" He asked with perverse glee. "You can be the uncooperative patient and I'll be the doctor. I promise I'll be gentle."

"No please! Stop!" Sasha thrashed against him, attempting to escape his attacker.

Matthew tsked and took out the pocket knife from his pocket. "You seem to have a worm living inside you. Now where should I make the first cut to get that worm out?"

"Nowhere, Matthew. Please!" Sasha begged, attempting to escape.

Matthew punched Sasha in the gut and hissed. "If you move, I'll punch you again." Sasha wiggled against Matthew and the preteen punched Sasha in the gut. "Now what did I say?" It took a few more punches before Sasha got the message and stopped his squirmed. Matthew really hated dealing with slow learners.

"Now that's better. I think I need to lift up your shirt to make the first cut." Matthew lowered the knife upon Sasha's skin. After a few cuts, Matthew started to get bored. Matthew growled in frustration. What would it take to satiate the darker side of him? He pushed Sasha to the ground, flipped him around, and began punching at whatever he could.

Some part of him snapped in that moment and he looked at Sasha's trembling form for an answer that he, himself, could not figure out. What would make it satisfying for him? He suddenly remembered kissing Sasha under a certain twisted individual named Ted's orders. He couldn't – However, his darker side was demanding that he do something to quench his hunger.

As he tilted his head, Roy's old brown cap fell off and landed beside Sasha's head. Matthew had been wearing it on weekends since Roy's funeral. In a way, it was like Roy had never left. Perhaps he was a sentimental kid despite his rocky exterior? Nah, it couldn't be that. The hat laid there as a witness to what he was about to do. He looked back and forth between the hat and Sasha for some kind of answer to his dilemma as if the hat contained an answer.

Matthew lowered his face closer to Sasha's. Matthew closed his eyes before his lips landed on Sasha's, so he wouldn't have to witness himself becoming what other guys in his school considered "a faggot." His lips brushed up against Sasha's before withdrawing. The tip of his tongue hit his lips absentmindly, tasting whatever fruity chapstick Sasha was wearing.

`It's just like kissing a damn girl.' Matthew thought to himself. That wasn't the only thing that Matthew noticed. He didn't feel any repulsion when kissing Sasha, none what-so-ever. He knew what repulsion felt like. He felt it when Ted laid hands on him. He felt it when the old ladies at his grandpa's nursing home would attempt to kiss him on the cheek as if he were the replacement for their grandkids who never visit. He got it when he was forced to kiss Seth and Lucas. He didn't feel it with Sasha. He never felt it with him. The kiss he shared with him felt – kind of pleasant. `Maybe I didn't do it long enough.' Matthew reasoned with himself.

"What – Why did you do that?" Sasha asked. Matthew could hear the confusion in Sasha's raspy voice. The one thing he didn't hear was disgust. `Bastard probably liked it. Coming here was a mistake.' Matthew thought bitterly.

"Shut up. Just shut up, you stupid asshole. If you tell anyone about this, I'll break your neck and tell everyone you threw yourself at me!" Matthew threatened in a harsh whisper.

"What? No! I – I didn't." Sasha attempted to speak, but was too confused - or turned on to complete the sentence. `Do not complete whatever you are about say, you idiot. It's your fault I'm in this situation.' Matthew thought viciously.

"I don't want to hear it, Sasha. Like I said before, if you dare tell anyone about this -" Matthew made a sound that the preteen thought death sounded like. He then wordlessly lowered his head again to kiss the other preteen. This one lasted longer than the other one did. Again, the kiss felt pleasant. It felt even more so since it lasted longer.

He pushed the bizarre situation even further by slipping his tongue into the other preteen's mouth. His tongue awkwardly explored the confines on the other boy's mouth. He felt Sasha try to push him off of him and mutter into his mouth something Matthew couldn't make out. His blood was pumping in his ears and his face completely flushed with newfound desire. He finally let go after a few more minutes of chasing the bizarre yet wonderful feeling. He fed the figurative beast and fed it well.

He hardly remembered returning home, but the next thing he knew it, he was back at home with Roy's hat sitting on the camel in his room. He laid in bed with Alice Cooper's song 'Poison' being played on repeat on full volume. His dad came up periodically to pound on his door and yell about the music. The door was locked, so he was free to listen to his music while his dad gives himself a coronary.

Normally his dad's reaction would have caused a few laughs, but that was not the case that night. His mind replayed the incident that happened at Sasha's over and over like a broken record. He didn't know if this was the first time he ever felt shame or if he was just afraid of getting caught. His peers thought that gay people were something to be mocked. His dad thought gay people were effeminate figure skaters and were something to be despised. Who knew what Seth and Lucas thought of the issue? He couldn't let anyone find out that he was – like that. He couldn't let them know that he shared something in common with the gay caricatures with the lispy effeminate voice, the flashy wardrobe, and the limp wrists. He refused to be the queer kid at school. He would get jumped and laughed at every day.

It wasn't so much that he kissed Sasha, but that he liked it. He wondered just how gay he was. He couldn't have been that gay if he felt genuine romantic, dare he even think about, emotions towards her. He still would have had sex with her again if their parents didn't split them apart. He just did not know anymore. He didn't get much sleep that night due to the fact that he didn't want to be gay and his anxiety that he might be.


End file.
